It's Easier to Think

I am Mark Meneses, the Miami breed.
I hum music with my words, and my fingers follow soon after.
Sometimes I whisper; sometimes I become a news anchor.
Creation, appreciation, & apprehension.
Watch my footprint gain depth in the sand.

Everything I post on here is original unless otherwise noted or cited, including poetry, images, and videos. Opinions, however, are all mine mine mine.
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Posts tagged review
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Don’t Gotta Work It Out | Fitz & The Tantrums

The Fitz show at Culture Room last night was very revitalizing. Knocking some sensible music and (even more) sensible people around in a room isn’t an easy task for just anyone in any musical situation, and it’s much harder when you’re trying to pick at a certain crowd. The balance isn’t always right, and there’s always more gold on one side of the scale—that is, if gold is even what you’ve got.

That’s not the problem with Fitz & The Tantrums; in fact, I’d have to say there is absolutely no problem with them at all. The performance had my knees bending at degrees and angles I didn’t know were possible; every sense was taken to an infinitival degree. Covers of crowd favorites (“Steady, as She Goes” and “Sweet Dreams”) were executed flawlessly by vocalists Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs. Even the opening band was too much of a treat to go unmentioned.

The chemistry consumed not only the performers, but the audience as well.The band had great rhythm, and what’s more important for a soul band if not rhythm? A favorite of mine was James King, saxophonist/flutist for Fitz, who delivered on every tune with excellent timing and great leads. Who needs guitars anyway?

The night highlighted hype, and the hype was, without a doubt, brought to the mercy of the bands’ music. I hope these guys come back to South Florida in the future—they came, we danced, and I will definitely return if they do.

Jay-Z & Kanye West’s Watch the Throne I’ll be listening to this in my car for the next few months. This surpasses Twisted Fantasy by light years, and that album was one helluva story. 5/5, no doubt about it. Only for good ears. I suggest checking out: No Church in the Wild Otis Niggas in Paris Who Gon Stop Me (I would post links for all, but I’m sure they’ll all be shot down sooner or later.)

Jay-Z & Kanye West’s Watch the Throne

I’ll be listening to this in my car for the next few months. This surpasses Twisted Fantasy by light years, and that album was one helluva story. 5/5, no doubt about it. Only for good ears.

I suggest checking out:

  • No Church in the Wild
  • Otis
  • Niggas in Paris
  • Who Gon Stop Me

(I would post links for all, but I’m sure they’ll all be shot down sooner or later.)

Wake Up! | John Legend & The Roots Otherwise known as the only  record I’ve been listening to the past couple of days. I suggest it much more than any other album that came out this year. I’ve been smoothing my ear out over every song on this record—there’s no such thing as a bad song here. Not to mention John Legend plays with the Roots on this—it’s more like sitting in at a jam session than anything else. The album spits up soul track after track, running on an interconnecting course that includes every song into its schedule. No song is left behind. Neither is any chord. Yes, the album mostly consists of soul covers from the 60s and 70s, and you would greatly expect that to put the brakes on the record and slow it down a little bit. This isn’t the case with Wake Up!—on the contrary, it sounds fresh, it feels cool, and, most importantly, it’s cohesive. Great commendable soul, piano, and voice record. Definitely worth the money.

Wake Up! | John Legend & The Roots

Otherwise known as the only  record I’ve been listening to the past couple of days. I suggest it much more than any other album that came out this year. I’ve been smoothing my ear out over every song on this record—there’s no such thing as a bad song here.

Not to mention John Legend plays with the Roots on this—it’s more like sitting in at a jam session than anything else. The album spits up soul track after track, running on an interconnecting course that includes every song into its schedule. No song is left behind. Neither is any chord.

Yes, the album mostly consists of soul covers from the 60s and 70s, and you would greatly expect that to put the brakes on the record and slow it down a little bit. This isn’t the case with Wake Up!—on the contrary, it sounds fresh, it feels cool, and, most importantly, it’s cohesive. Great commendable soul, piano, and voice record. Definitely worth the money.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | Kanye West

Kanye is back, and he’s not stealing any more microphones.

In fact, his new album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is a response to all the critique and hate spiraling in the man’s head for the past year. Set in what seems like a new decadent world (not unlike his past album, my always-will-be favorite 808s & Heartbreak), Kanye appropriately tackles issues of escapism and self-aggrandizement—something we condescendingly accuse him of knowing very much about.

But I’m not here to defend my favorite rapper. Or am I already doing so?

Along with the album, West also released “Runaway,” a short film that visualizes the themes of the album with some pretty good cinematic elements tied in with some of the record’s repertoire. It’s nothing short of a masterpiece, Kanye’s chef-d’oeuvre.

As always, Kanye’s delivery is spot on. Albeit laid-back (not lazy—no good musician can be lazy), he proves that he doesn’t have to try hard for his message to get across. In the song “Runaway,” he preaches, “Let’s have a toast for the douche bags / let’s have a toast for the assholes / … / let’s have a toast for the jerk-offs / that’ll never take off work.” Wait, it gets better.

Towards the end, West uses a noise-vocal effect to layer over a large chunk of his voice and lyrics, which lasts for about half of the song. The only way you can understand why this is so endearing to me is by listening to it (which can be done by clicking here)—it’s poetic. It’s intent. It’s show don’t tell.

And the same can be said for the entire album.

“First rule in this world, baby: don’t pay attention to anything you see in the news.”

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