Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Corey's July Music Round-Up

[Hey everyone, it's Corey. In what I think will be a great move for everyone, Alex and I have agreed to start hosting my monthly music round-ups here at Riff 'N Ralk Music Tock. You may be familiar with these from my Tumblr blog, and you can check out June's round-up here. Moving forward these will be hosted exclusively on Riff 'N Ralk. Though it is unnecessary to catch up on earlier months unless you want to see what I did and didn't enjoy in the first six months of this year, my ratings do bear some explanation. These will be explained in the key below. These, of course, are just my opinions, and I am wont to change my mind often even after submitting a rating for an album in a given month, so don't take this too seriously. This is mostly to spark discussion and debate, and to showcase highly rated albums you may not have heard of before.]



Wow. What a busy month. It really felt like this one would never end and I listened to a seemingly infinite amount of great singles and new albums of every stripe. July featured two albums which you may have already seen reviews for in my Best of 2013 so far round-up. If not, go check it out here. You also may have already seen my reviews for albums by The Tomas Doncker Band, Marla Mase, and Monks of Mellownah. This has definitely been an exciting summer for music fans, and judging by my list of upcoming albums, it only has more in store for us. Without boring you further though, here's the ratings!



2 Mello and Jay Z – Chrono Jigga (B; 8.0)

David Lynch – The Big Dream (B; 8.0)
Run the Jewels (El-P and Killer Mike) – Run the Jewels (B; 7.7)
Integrity – Suicide Black Snake (B; 7.5)
Misery Signals – Absent Light (B-; 7.4)
Jeremiah Jae and Oliver the 2nd – RawHyde (B-; 7.4)
Philip H. Anselmo and the Illegals – Walk Through Exits Only (B-; 7.3)
Fat Tony – Smart Ass Black Boy (B-; 7.2)
Thundercat – Apocalypse (B-; 7.2)
Bangladeafy – The Briefcase (B-; 7.0)
Jay Z – Magna Carta Holy Grail (B-; 7.0)
Alice in Chains – The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (C+; 6.9)
Amon Amarth – Deceiver of the Gods (C+; 6.8)
Killing Joke – MMXII (C+; 6.8)
Geoff Rickley – Darker Matter/// Mixtape 2 (C+; 6.7)
Hodgy Beats – Untitled 2 (C+; 6.6)
Tomas Doncker Band – Howlin' Wolf EP (C+; 6.6)
CocoRosie – Tales of a Grass Widow (C; 6.5)
Counterparts – The Difference Between Hell and Home (C; 6.5)
Defeater – Letters Home (C; 6.5)
John Frusciante – Outsides EP (C; 6.5)
The World is a Beautiful Place, and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die – Whenever, If Ever (C; 6.4)
Black Box Theory – Myalgia EP (C; 6.1)
Monks of Mellownah – Ghost Stories EP (C; 6.1)
Against Me! - True Trans EP (C; 6.0)
Deep Purple – Now What?! (C; 6.0)
Mammoth Grinder – Underworlds (C; 6.0)
Various Artists – No Sleep Records Summer Sampler 2013 (C; 6.0)
Teenage Guitar – Force Fields at Home (C-; 5.6)
Future of the Left – Love Songs for Our Husbands (C-; 5.2)
Full of Hell – Rudiments of Mutilation (D; 4.8)
Zs – Grain (D; 4.4)



Recommended Tracks
The Dismemberment Plan - “Waiting”

Rating Guide
1.0 – 3.0: F.
3.1 – 4.9: D.
5.0 – 6.9: C.
7.0 – 8.9: B.
9.0 – 10.0: A.
BOLD = featured artwork/video.
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