Kim Petras’ debut single “I Don’t Want It At All” was an electric, fun burst of sugary pop with 80’s inspired instrumentation and a compelling personality at the forefront. Her further singles continued the magic that “I Don’t Want It At All” started. On her debut album, Clarity, Petras lacks the charisma and instrumentals that her singles provided. Continue reading
If there’s one thing Bring Me The Horizon is owed, it’s respect. While plenty of new albums suffer from a symptom of sameness, BMTH bring us amo, an album that couldn’t feel further from their deathcore roots. Still, this wasn’t a drastic shift (the opposite end of the same complaint), the band has been inching towards this change since their deathcore opus Suicide Season. Following 2015’s That’s The Spirit, the band’s crossover into the mainstream shouldn’t come as any surprise; seeing as that was a nu-metal/hard rock record, BMTH coming out with a hard rock/pop album seemed to be the next step. Now that the band wants to swing for the big leagues, the UK band find shaky ground to establish themselves on. Continue reading
With a huge output of great records and songs this year, there were a ton of contenders for this year’s best albums. So many of pop’s biggest names either took a gap year to tour last year’s records (Taylor Swift, Lorde), take time to build hype (Carly Rae Jespsen, Adele), or indulge in passion-projects (Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar), this year has been an open opportunity for a number of smaller acts and newcomers to make a big splash, and there’s been a ton. Continue reading
The nature of waiting on Kanye West’s ye has been conflicting. In some sense, it was nerve-racking: Kanye West, already the most polarizing artist of the decade, had recently come out as a Trump supporter (suspected to be the product of a mental breakdown). The first track released from this album cycle was the meme-birthing “Lift Yourself,” arguably Yeezy’s most cringe-worthy lyrical work to date. This also comes as the world of mainstream rap is enthralled by a Drake and Pusha T beef that seems to only be growing. With that being said, there’s still the excitement that comes with being a Kanye fan. It’s not exactly at the same level of The Life of Pablo, with the Yeezy Season 3 showing at Madison Square Garden or surprise album drop on SNL. Reading about the listening party in Wyoming and getting the album a few hours later, I felt the same exhilaration as hearing that Life of Pablo dropped on SNL, seeing the Yeezus artwork, and first hearing “Runaway.” From the time Kanye announced this album until now, it’s been a period of wrestling with wanting the new album to be good from a fan’s perspective but also struggling to come to terms with Kanye’s politics. Surprisingly, there was little to be worried about on either front. Continue reading
Released almost exactly one year after her debut album, Sidney Gish’s new No Dogs Allowed marks a significant step forward for the Boston singer-songwriter. Gish’s debut marked the scope of her ambition by having her play every instrument, mostly with just her guitar and voice. Dogs sees Gish venturing with different guitar tones, more drum loops, and real bass. Gish also keeps with her writing of catchy songs withs, somewhat random lyrics, although she seems a little bit more thoughtful this time around. With the increased popularity, Gish is placing herself in league with the likes of Waxahatchee, Julien Baker, and other indie-pop songstresses that have taken the music industry by storm so much in the past year. Continue reading
I’d only ever flirted with the idea of seeing a major pop-star live. I like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Justin Timberlake enough to think about going to their shows. I’ve seen Kanye on the Saint Pablo tour, but he’s a rapper. I’ve seen Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco at major arena tours, while they’re still mostly relevant, but both are still (mostly) considered rock bands. Lady Gaga was like my first kiss, kind of great-kind of awkward and underwhelming. Continue reading
Remember, in 2012, when Green Day put out three albums within a six-month span? Uno, Dos, and Tre had a total of 37 songs, and it’s widely regarded as one of the band’s biggest blunders. Nonetheless, when you’ve been making music for over 20 years, you’re allowed to make a few ridiculous blunders. The band will talk about how releasing so much music in such a short time span was a large mistake. Drake should take note. Drake’s past three solo releases have all clocked in over an hour each, and none are bearable to listen to in a single sitting. Continue reading
To me, The Grammys are the Super Bowl. I always want to gamble on it. I usually know what’s going to happen. I’m glued to the TV for hours, and I get drunk while doing it. Unlike the Super Bowl though, the person who wins is either met with indifference or excitement, rarely anger. This year, BurgerADay are laying out the pics for who will win versus who should win. Check out our picks, and either way, just remember it’s much more important than the Patriots and Falcons. No one’s deflating these balls.
Album Of The Year:
25 — Adele
Lemonade — Beyoncé
Purpose — Justin Bieber
Views — Drake
A Sailor’s Guide To Earth — Sturgill Simpson
Should Win: Lemonade-Beyoncé
I may have been late to the party for a long time, but at the tail end of 2016, I listened to Lemonade, and it’s pretty damn great. Beyoncé is completely worthy of all the praise she’s gotten for this album. As most of the best albums of the year, Bey mixed the political with the personal, and the record can transition from an emotional gut-punch like on “Pray You Catch Me” or “Don’t Hurt Yourself” to a genuinely fun as hell hype song like “Formation.” There may be a little protest to the politicization of Beyoncé, but as someone who’s never been on board with her as a simple pop-artist, she’s certainly left a great impression this year.
Summing it all up.
Even though we’ve all been talking about how 2016 is the worst year ever, this year did see a lot of good coming out of it. Don’t get me wrong, 2016 sucked, but it does seem like the arts flourished. We got Stranger Things this year! I’ve heard the new Star Wars is pretty good, and I don’t even like Star Wars. I saw Brand New, The Front Bottoms, and Modern Baseball twice each! Those aren’t bad things. Since music is where my passion lies (and I’m not that original), I wanted to post BurgerADay’s official standings on Pitchfork’s normal and bizarre year end lists.
1.Best Lyric of 2016: The Front Bottoms-“Joanie”
“I finally am what I am, a fucking bag of bags”
2.Best Rap Album of 2016: Kanye West-The Life of Pablo Continue reading
Despite deaths and elections, 2016 was an excellent year for music. There were so many great albums that it was hard to keep up. That being said, it’s time for the most controversial list, where the top 10 are decided. Take a deep breath.
10. Panic! At The Disco-Death of A Bachelor
When A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out first arrived in 2006, Panic! At the Disco was the most exciting mainstream rock band in the world. Pretty. Odd. in retrospect, isn’t a bad record, but it doesn’t have the same life that Fever does. In fact, the band didn’t even scratch that excitement until the release of the song “This is Gospel,” but on Death of a Bachelor, Brendon Urie sounds refreshed. The faux Sinatra songs like “Impossible Year” are irresistible, but he really shines on the songs that serve as bangers. “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time” or “LA Devotee” are genuine pop hits, and P!ATD’s best records are still to come if Urie can keep up this output. Continue reading
Burger-A-Day 