1 – The Graduates – Speedy Ortiz – The flip side of thinking you aren’t giving an album enough time is you giving an album enough time and getting stuck with mid-tempo crap like this. Just a real plodder – C-
2 – Never Again – Sam Lewis – This is very country-ish, there is something Modern Sounds about it but the song isn’t good enough to sustain the conceit. On the other hand, what is? – B+
3 – Anti-Summersong – The Decemberists – This is a true rarity, maybe the only one of its kind, a Decemberist among the best of any given year. This is a catchy like country folk movie – A-
4 – To The Top – Twin Shadows – Here is hoping he recovers from his crash soon – B+
5 – Shots – Imagine Dragons – Easily their best song ever and it didn’t even break pop. The moral? Don’t try so hard – A–
6 – Up – Olly Murs and Demi Lovato – Yeah, this is a goodie but the album didn’t play to his gifts – B+
7 – Take Ova – Lil Snupe – One of the great lost rappers -man he was young to get shot in the streets – B+
8 – Ebonics – Big L – ANother, even bigger loss. One of the great raps and one of the greatest rappers – A+
9 – Deadly Combination – Big L – A look at early deaths, including Biggie and a sampled 2Pac – A
10 – The Enemy – With Fat Joe sampled, I love everything about this song, and this guy, Big L was simply a master, what a ridiculous loss, “what would you do if a vicious enemy was coming at you…”- A
