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Interview: Post Animal's "Forward Motion Godyssey" Powers Through the Storm

Bassist Dalton Allison talks to Popdust about the Chicago band's second album.

Post Animal - How Do You Feel [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

Just before recording their new album Forward Motion Godyssey, the members of Post Animal feared for their lives.

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MUSIC

French Montana Is Still Bad at Rapping

"MONTANA" was meant to be his magnum opus, but the project is a slog, with Montana's celebrity friends overshadowing him at every turn.

Photo by: Karsten Winegeart / Unsplash

French Montana has forever bemused the public with his inconsistency.

On one hand, he's a scrupulous tastemaker and has an uncanny ear for hooks and instrumentals. His projects are historically bloated with guest appearances, but Montana has an arresting ability to bend artists to his will in a way DJ Khaled never could. "Unforgettable" established Swae Lee as an unexpected dancehall star, success he ultimately morphed into a successful solo career. "Lockjaw" proved that the now semi-canceled Kodak Black could be more than just a mumble rapper if given the chance to shine.

But on the other hand, French Montana has always been one of hip-hop's most tepid lyricists. His lyrics are usually either drowned out by layers of auto-tune gurgles, and the words you can hear are often cryptic metaphors devoid of any consistent thematic meaning to tie them all together. "Put the needle in your ass, keep they table green," he raps on "Montana," the intro to his eponymous third album. "Multi-millionaire, strapped like O-Dog, can't teach new tricks to old dogs."

MONTANA is a budding commercial success, but its best moments are when French serves as the project's conductor rather than emcee. "Writing on the Wall" is absolutely infectious, "Wanna Be" finds the post-hiatus PARTYNEXTDOOR in full command of his reggaeton sensibilities in a way not seen since 2018. Gunna's woozy vibrato floats effortlessly along the Harry Fraud-produced "Suicide Doors." But MONTANA's biggest strength is also its biggest flaw. The project actively caters to the talent it's hosting, and while it makes for a handful of satisfying radio-ready singles, the double-album is a slog that regularly stifles its host.

French Montana - Writing on the Wall ft. Post Malone, Cardi B, Rvssianwww.youtube.com

"Twisted," produced by Juicy J, is a classic Crunk reinvention, and while Juicy sounds right at home, guest features from Logic and A$AP stumble as the emcee's try to navigate uncharted waters. "Out of Your Mind" reunites French and Swae Lee for what is essentially a carbon copy of "Unforgettable."

French uses MONTANA's grand scale to demonstrate versatility, but his identity gets lost in the excess. It's a problem the rapper faces often, and while his ability to unite an expansive roaster under one roof has earned him a substantial number of hit records, it still remains to be seen how much creative substance can actually be accredited to him. He's clearly doing something right; Harry Fraud, Max B, and the late Chinx are just a few of French's label mates that exemplify the emcee's brilliant ability to foster untapped talent, and he's highly respected within hip-hop's upper echelon.

French Montana - Wiggle It ft. City Girlswww.youtube.com

Irritatingly, it's not as if the emcee doesn't have a plethora of interesting life experience to write about. He's a Muslim immigrant who recently returned to his home country of Morocco for the first time in 20 years. He's had a series of strange album mishaps, and most recently was hospitalized with severe stomach pain, nausea, and increased heart rate. The rapper and LACSD additionally refused to disclose any information as to what caused the illness, but Montana has since been placed on month-long bed rest.

"The most interesting material in his life gets misused or unmentioned," wrote Pitchfork of Jungle Rules, and unfortunately the same appears to be true with MONTANA. Vulnerability could be the emcee's greatest ally, but he instead often settles for braggadocios contention: "Stunt like Muslim, I don't eat. I cop the Lam'," he raps on "Saucy." "When I get hot head and cold feet, I got heat 'em up." The missed opportunities for reflection deflate his music into recyclable party tracks, but while he has plenty of awards and accolades that may disagree, the rapper has yet to release anything with staying power.

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Mipso's "Moonlight" Is Perfect for A Summer Chill Session

Mipso recently released the official music video for their hit song "Moonlight" along with new summer tour dates.

Mipso

If you aren't a fan already, you must check out the tasty twang and soft palpable poetry of North Carolina's hottest indie-americana band, Mipso.

You know the sort of music that takes you back to sweet youthful summers and warms your heart with the echo of the past? Yet still, you recognize that its only an echo and that those times are over. Mipso's "Moonlight" does exactly that. North Carolina's indie-Americana darlings Mipso have released the official video for their track " Moonlight," from their critically acclaimed new album Edges Run.

The video illustrates the familiar and all-too-human emotion of feeling alone, even while surrounded by those you love the most. Songwriter Joseph Terrell explains, "I wrote 'Moonlight' after a breakup while I drove all day back to North Carolina from where I'd been living in Boston. I was sitting in summer traffic on the worst highway in America in a rented minivan full of all my stuff, and I kind of just had to laugh. There's that voice in your head that wants to tell the world, 'I'm totally fine!' when you're anything but."

The video release accompanies the band's announcement of a run of additional summer tour dates this August. Venturing to the Western mountain states, Mipso bring their captivating live show to Montana, Colorado, and Utah.

Giphy

They can also be seen playing festivals this summer, including the Blue Ox Music Festival in Eau Claire, WI, Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, the Calgary Folk Festival, and Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, NC this September.

MIPSO EDGES RUN ALBUM RELEASE TOUR – SUMMER 2018

6/14/18 - Blue Ox Music Festival - Eau Claire, WI

6/16/18 - Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival - Croton-On-Hudson, NY

7/13/18 - Red Wing Roots Music Festival - Mt. Solon, VA

7/14/18 - The Down Home - Johnson City, TN

7/28/18 - Calgary Folk Music Festival - Calgary, Canada

8/1/18 - Yellowstone Brewing - Billings, MT

8/2/18 - Top Hat Lounge – Missoula, MT

8/4/18 – Sweet Pea Festival – Bozeman, MT

8/5/18 – Mishawaka Amphitheatre – Bellvue, CO

8/6/18 – Chautauqua Auditorium – Boulder, CO

8/9/18 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT

8/11/18 – Lake Dillion Amphitheatre – Dillon, CO

8/16/18 - Narrows Center for the Arts - Fall River, MA

8/17/18 - Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots - Manchester,VT

9/6/18 - Hopscotch Music Festival - Raleigh, NC

9/15/18 - Whale Rock Music Festival - Templeton, CA

Mipso's fourth album, Edges Run, has received praise from critics and fans alike. The album's first two singles - "People Change" and the title track "Edges Run" have received over 5 million streams on Spotify so far, with placement on prominent Spotify Playlists.

Mipso has always been a creative democracy, and on Edges Runthe band takes this ideal to greater lengths than ever before. "We'd all seen a lot of change in a short period," says Sharp of the time between the band's recent 2016 release, Coming Down The Mountain, and Edges Run - recorded in early 2017. "Three of us moved out of the Triangle area and into other places. We had relationships end and deaths of friends and family members." Those events alone could account for the deeply introspective themes on Edges Run, recorded during the dead of winter in Eugene, Oregon. "We were beginning to feel, probably for the first time, that youth was more behind us than ahead, and so I think we were all feeling different pressures closing in," says Sharp. So the band took a step back to consider their songs-in-progress — and took a leap of faith in traveling far from their North Carolina comfort zone to record in Oregon with producer (and bassist) Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird, Anaïs Mitchell). They carried with them into the sessions a desire to stretch themselves beyond previously known roads of composition and performance. For the first time, Mipso came to the studio with sketches of songs rather than fully-fleshed arrangements and decided to co-write songs together, also a first for the band. Call it a new level of confidence or a developing collective consciousness, but with five years as a band and hundreds of nights on the road together, with the release of Edges Run Mipso retains its traditional roots while becoming thoroughly modern, intuitive musicians with the ability to transcend conventions and embrace what lies ahead. "We have a better idea of what we can do, and how we want to do it," says Sharp.

Praise for Mipso's Edges Run

"Best New Music" – American Songwriter

"Mipso defy boundaries and limitations on " Edges Run," the entrancing title-track from their forthcoming record…" - Americana Music Association

"Mipso has discovered that rare chemistry of four people coming together and uncorking bottled lightning with every tour and trip to the studio." - Cincinnati City Beat

"Catchy and radiant, moody and meditative, [the songs will] touch you on many different levels." - PopMatters

" Edges Run...pushes the boundaries...while maintaining everything Mipso do really well. It's honest and... asks you to listen closely. The instrumentation is rich, while still convincing you that it's simple"- Red Line Roots

"...showcasing the group's tight harmonies and musicianship…[and] venturing further intoalt-country…territory." - Washington Post

"[Mipso's Edges Run] balances heavy heartbreak and introspection with poppy, good-times acoustic pop. It's a good spectrum for the quartet, in that it allows for a wide sonic and emotional range." - No Depression

"Mipso's stellar use of harmony and deep layers of sound bring out a level of maturity comparable to Neil Young, Fleet Foxes and Fleetwood Mac." - Triad City Beat

"'Artist You Need To Know' The quartet's winsome Americana is as catchy and easygoing as ever." – Rolling Stone

"[Edges Run] solidifies Mipso's position in the modern folk movement." - Amplifier Magazine

"Mipso separates from the pack with an introspective, at times dark set of songs that emphasize atmosphere over monolithic strumming and draw from folk, old-school country and modern pop with equal enthusiasm. It's the sound of a band embracing adulthood and finding its sound." - Bend Bulletin

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Megan Oots is Popdust writer based in New York City. She loves the sun, cooking, and playing with dogs.


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