1 TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY – KENDRICK LAMAR – B+
2 IN THE LONELY HOUR SAM SMITH CAPITOL – A
3 TRACK – MARK KNOPFLER – C
4 X ED SHEERAN – B
5 DUETS RE-WORKING THE CATALOGUE – VAN MORRISON – A-
6 CHASING YESTERDAY NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING – C+
7 REBEL HEART MADONNA – A
8 WANTED ON VOYAGE GEORGE EZRA B
9 1989 TAYLOR SWIFT A
10 FROOT – MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS – C
Comment: I’ve listened to the new Kendrick a lot and I am getting a handle on it but it reminds me of the recent D’Angelo album… shouldn’t this stuff not feel like homework? Like hard work? Like a slog, waiting for the songs to reveal themselves. And I guess they do slowly, “Wesley’s Theory”, “i” and “u”, the undeniable “The Blacker The Berry” but again, would I have spent this much time without the hype? Well, yes for “The Blacker The Berry”…
