2010s 270 Items

Jessie Baylin returns with a Deluxe Edition of Strawberry Wind, an album that delivers on a promise Baylin made with herself: to create an honest record for kids and parents alike. With three new tracks added to the vinyl release, the album delightfully expresses a childlike sensibility through tracks overflowing with an excitement for life that speaks well to children. Weaving through lyrical themes of dream life, supermoons, and summertime vibes, there are also some gentle doses of reality on Strawberry Wind. “I don't want to lie to my kids. Life can be hard sometimes, and you need to find a way to deal with it,” says Baylin. “There will always be things in life you can't control, but you can dream of a better world and make your own refuge." She continues, “I wanted it to feel magical and remind people of the child inside of all of us that is filled with a sense of wonder, pure joy, and hope.”

Dark Entries celebrates its 15th anniversary with legendary synth-punk deviants Crash Course in Science. Dale Feliciello, Mallory Yago, and Michael Zodorozny formed Ccis in 1979 after meeting at art school in Philadelphia. As a gesture born of equal parts punk irreverence and brute necessity, the band incorporated toy instruments and kitchen appliances into their aggressive, angular sound. Their anthems “Cardboard Lamb” and “Flying Turns” from 1981’s Signals From Pier Thirteen EP have been staples in adventurous DJ sets for over 40 years - yet some of their finest work is to be found on Near Marineland, a full-length LP recorded in 1981 but remained unreleased in its time. Near Marineland shows the band moving into more diverse and polished territory (although it’s still as abrasive as sandpaper). Tracks like “No More Hollow Doors” and “Jump Over Barrels” highlight Ccis’s singular knack for embedding infectiously monotone hooks in their stiff-yet-funky grooves. Elsewhere we see Ccis going fully unhinged, like on the searing “Someone Reads” or the demented “Pompeii Spared”, where a spray of honks is barely glued together by a frantic synthetic pulse. While this masterwork of malfunctioning analog electronics has surfaced on a few occasions - this first time stand alone remaster includes four never-before-released bonus tracks and includes a lyric sheet. Near Marineland is crucial listening for all devotees of synth-punk and minimal electronics.

“Talk That Talk” is the sixth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna, released on November 2011, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. It was recorded while traveling for the “Loud” Tour between February and November 2011, and was originally planned to be a reissue of her previous studio album “Loud” (2010). As executive producer, Rihanna enlisted a wide range of producers including Alex da Kid, Mr. Bangladesh, Calvin Harris, Chase & Status, Cirkut, Da Internz, Dr. Luke, Ester Dean, Gareth McGrillen, Hit-Boy, No I.D., Priscilla Renea, Rob Swire, StarGate, The-Dream. Following in the same vein as “Loud”, “Talk That Talk” is a dance-oriented pop/R&B crossover album that incorporates elements of hip hop, dubstep, electronic and house music. The album also continues to have subtle dancehall genres, whilst its lyrical content and themes revolve around a nihilist, romantic and lascivious lover.

“Talk That Talk” received generally positive reviews from music critics, and debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200. As of June 2015, the album has sold 1.15 million copies in the United States.