365 – New Music Daily

All over the musical map with this one. The only trifecta that could top this would be a three album review of Chief Keef, Britney, and Bach. Sounds great.

Only feel like reading about music you think you might like? I get it. Use these links to jump to reviews on albums from Shuggie Otis (Blues), Daft Punk (House/Electronic) and The Strokes (Alternative Rock).

Freedom Fight – Shuggie Otis (Blues)

Seriously, is there a better blues name than Shuggie Otis? Actually maybe. This blog has featured blues reviews from B.B. King and Fenton Robinson, which are both fantastic blues names, though the latter could be an Alabama cornerback. Alas.

Shuggie delivers the original Strawberry Letter 23 (the lyrics for that song are absolutely insane, but the Brothers Johnson version is better), along with a plethora of fantastic, groovy blues songs with some seriously amazing guitar solos and song breakdowns. For all fans of blues, this feels like required listening. All music fans should listen to the below song though.

Favorite songs: Ice Cold Daydream, Strawberry Letter 23, Sweet Thing, Me and My Woman, Purple

Random Access Memories – Daft Punk (House/Electronic)

Over time, I’ve come to really appreciate Daft Punk – their compositions are amazing, the talkbox and/or autotune vocals are fantastic, and they are at the pinnacle of electronic music and have been for a long time. Random Access Memories comes outside of their so-called prime, and is certainly known to many by Get Lucky, however this album is much more than that.

From the guitar-chop heavy songs (e.g., the intro below) to the more somber cuts (e.g., Within) and everything in between, Random Access Memories can easily be slotted high in the Daft Punk discography, and is definitely worth a listen for all house/electronic fans – it’s much more than Get Lucky.

Favorite songs: Give Life Back to Music, Giorgio by Moroder, Within, Instant Crush, Fragments of Time

The New Abnormal – The Strokes (Alternative Rock)

I feel like this one didn’t resonate with me as much as many others. I have heard that The Strokes discography has this amazing high point with Room on Fire and Is This It, falls into an OK next album, and then they have a bit of a lull in well-received output until this album in 2020. There are certainly some good songs – though it is a bit more poppy for my taste and doesn’t really have that same raw element to Is This It that is very hard to describe eloquently. You just know it.

If I was a diehard Strokes fan when Is This It dropped (at 2), I’m sure it would have been amazing to hear them back in form – however for someone that is only recently fully diving into the band, this ends up just slotting in as their third best record that I’ve heard. That being said, I do still really dig some of their songs and obviously love the band.

Favorite songs: The Adults Are Talking, Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus, Bad Decisions, Not The Same Anymore