4/5
AMPs & 808s
All The Latest Rap & Rock Reviews & News in Full Volume! We Never Miss A Beat!
Friday, 8 August 2025
REVIEW: BABYMETAL - METAL FORTH
4/5
Thursday, 7 August 2025
REVIEW: THE BLACK KEYS - NO RAIN, NO FLOWERS
4/5
Monday, 28 July 2025
LIVE REVIEW: FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL '25 @ Naeba Ski Resort, Japan (27/07/25)
4/5
Haimally
I quit, no longer being able to see Haim live. I was meant to do it years ago. A gift, from my best friend, back in London. But this was during corona. The same COVID-19 that Haim's California classic, 'Women In Music, Pt. III' helped get me through. The every same 'WIMPIII' best friend got me signed. Now, all these years later, I Haim-ally get to see my favourite band. And if that wasn't enough, thanks to someone else, I'll attend a talk about their new album, 'I Quit', in Shibuya's still-standing Tower Records tomorrow. I might have missed tickets for the meet and greet potion of the evening, but I don't need their autographs anyway, do I, D? Haim weren't the headliner, Vampire Weekend were, of Japan's Fuji Rock Festival '25. But they made the White Stage their own, and actually finished following their American contemporary. Drawing one of the biggest, roaring crowds. Rocking like the 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' like eyes of these stones showcase around the ski resort.
I hated to quit on Vampire Weekend part-way through their sweet, signature sound set, yet I wasn't missing Haim this time. I'll get my teeth into the Weekend, again, much like I am the closing track off Vampire's latest album, 'Only God Was Above Us', a classic like 'Capricorn', or 'Contra'. Seeing Haim with new friends, and ones from work I bumped into was an absolute joy as Danielle, Este and Alana Haim came onto stage after the red letters of their latest album told us everything they have quit. Isolation. Nicotine. D###. Then they took us down to the wire and opened their act with some of their 'Days Have Gone' own, like the raucously approved 'My Song 5'. 'I Want You Back', like the Jackson 5, also made an appearance, but with so many classics, let alone singles off the new album, something had to give. And it was that one. All whilst 'Relationships' and 'Down To Be Wrong' were met with last album icons like 'Now I'm In It', 'The Steps', 'Don't Wanna', 'Gasoline' and 'Summer Girl' with some sexy sax. From the girl's trademark drum set, to Danielle stepping behind the skins, this was a flawless set. Now, I can't wait to see how they top this at Tower.
That wasn't it, mind you, at a festival that is like Glastonbury with beautiful scenery, and even better food. Switching between stages like those 'Relationships' Haim sang about, you were spoilt for choice in a legendary line-up of Japanese and international artists. From London's own Little Simz, to the heart of Hana Hope. I'm just glad I got to see English Teacher on stage, not just for the incredible talent, but the fact that the spotlight didn't shine on this non-singing sensei. A real treat of the evening was Swedish 'Hate To Say I Told You So' legends The Hives at the Red Marquee. It's been 19 years since they last played Japan, and almost that long since I saw them a London's Hard Rock Calling. Yet with another album out in August, they haven't lost a step. Fabulous frontman Pelle Almqvist may just be the best in the business. Classic comedic cockiness on stage with tighter set arrangements than their classic suits. When he swings the mic around and pulls it back down, like a boxing announcer, he's the champ. And his band, the law, alright? Good! Fabulous forests to walk through that are ski slopes in the fall, you'll see plenty of artwork hanging from the trees of Fuji Rock's Naeba Ski resort like the snow that will come. But the best thing about this festival is the people you share it with. Especially when they surprise you at the gate in crazy coincidence. I keep pronouncing it wrong, but Fuji well and truly rocks. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Set-list Picks: Haim, The Hives, Vampire Weekend.
Monday, 21 July 2025
REVIEW: TYLER, THE CREATOR - DON'T TAP THE GLASS
4/5
Saturday, 19 July 2025
REVIEW: AMI KUSAKARI - GARDEN STUDIES
4/5
Friday, 18 July 2025
REVIEW: RAEKWON - THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES
4/5
Friday, 11 July 2025
REVIEW: CLIPSE - LET GOD SORT EM OUT
4/5
Lord's Will
"Kids, y'all need to stay away from anything that remotely looks like this, right here," Malice says, as he and his Pusha T brother unload clips at a shooting range. This was a scene from the 2003 short film 'The Eighth Planet' documenting super producers Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams. All for a scene on a bonus DVD to their compilation album 'The Neptunes Presents...Clones'. And Malice wasn't 'Frontin''. Years later, one half of the 'Grindin'' pair from Virginia would turn to the church like Pastor Mase, and Lord knows what he has seen. After their 'Lord Willin'' debut changed the VA game like Timbaland and the late, great Magoo (Rest Peacefully), Clipse copped discs like the soaring sophomore set 'Hell Hath No Fury' and the perfect 'P###y' on the 'Barbershop' soundtrack, that you saw them freestyle, back in the business of 'The Eighth Planet' DVD. 2009's 'Til The Casket Drops' didn't hit quite the same way, but it was no death sentence. Now, a sweet sixteen years later, it's welcome back to Malice in a wonderland with his rapping partner, once again.
Clipse reload after the hiatus with 'Let God Sort Em Out', and meeting their maker, you're not going to get it for cheap any more, like a classic mixtape. Pusha T has been making solo sets and G.O.O.D. Music for years, garnering Grammys like my man G. His most recent, 2022's 'It's Almost Dry', sealed his status. Now, God sorts them out with the blaring 'Ace Trumpets' deal of a single. Not to mention cameos from a worth the six figures Kendrick Lamar (on the flossing crack of 'Chains & Whips'), Tyler The Creator (the only 'P.O.V.' I mess with, I despise content creation, too) and John Legend (on the outstanding opener, 'The Birds Don't Sing', that paints a picture of everything Clipse have been through with the Voices Of Fire). But it's the big budget 'Inglorious Basterds', like Tarantino, that brings a re-upping old friend Ab-Liva back to the gang, scarring scalps. Elsewhere, Stove God Cooks helps heat up 'F.I.C.O.' The title-track, mind you, mixed with some Sia like 'Chandeliers', brings God M.C. Nas swinging like Ali.
On the promo single 'So Be It', the perfect pair sample Talal Maddah's 'Maza Akool Wa Kad Hemto'. And it's perfect production like this that will keep you hooked across the set, bridge to chorus. That's what you get when Pharrell Williams is once again manning the boards, piece by piece. Vocally he even appears on a lion's share of tracks. Basically, the last half of the LP. 'E.B.I.T.D.A', 'So Far Ahead', 'All Things Considered', with The-Dream, and the classic closer 'By The Grace Of God', in all it's and His beauty. For all the initials on 'M.T.B.T.T.F.', Pusha T raps, "No confessions, questions, we contestin'/Fireworks'll send a message, iridescent/Slow him down like Robitussin, if you rush in/At your door when we address him, we gon' bless him". Whilst Malice counters, "Gunning and I'm grinning/In a Bugatti in my denim/This is the result of my vision/React with precision/But God only knows my intention." And it's just so good to hear them back together. The Gallagher's aren't the only brothers to reunite against the odds this year. This rap cipher is an oasis. And today is going to be the day that they throw it back to you. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Ace Trumpets', 'Inglorious Basterds (Feat. Ab-Liva)', 'By The Grace Of God (Feat. Pharrell Williams)'.
Spin This: Clipse - 'Hell Hath No Fury'