Rapid Fire Reviews: The Final EPs Of The Year

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We are fully immersed in the end of year blitz where publications rush to not be the very last one to name their best music of the year. Like each of the past few years I will take up that mantle and release my best of lists in the last week of the year which means this week that many are spending dropping final calls, I'm cramming trying to get in as much reviewing work as possible before throwing myself into the year end haze. These are the last 3 EPs I'll be taking a look at before the end of the year!


Alternate Lands EP - William Doyle

William surprised and impressed me earlier this year with his Great Spans Of Muddy Time album, probably my favorite thing he's done since his East India Youth days. So it was easy for me to jump on board with a collection of tracks from the same era, especially after some singles I enjoyed. Everything I liked about Spans shows up here with William's fragile intimate vocals providing chilling moments of reflection and the bright instrumentation behind him contrasting it with cascading crescendos. If you've enjoyed his music in the past, or you like gorgeously arranged indie music then you will definitely find some enjoyment in these tracks, don't let this EP slip by you late in the year.  7/10


Rap? EP - Tierra Whack

Tierra really impressed me late last year with her creative and charming single Peppers And Onions. While I've heard from her here and there this year I was surprised that she was mostly absent from 2021 given the streak of creativity she's been on. This EP continues to show off Tierra's versatility kicking off with a stark and confident banger in the memorable Stand Up before transitioning into a much more personal R&B flavored song in Meagan Good with Tierra's sung hook. The third track Millions is a bit similar though the trap drums are much stronger and there is even a gospel style choir on backing vocals. I'm kind of surprised how little impact these 2nd two tracks have on me given that Tierra has always been one of the most unique artists in hip hop. Stand Up really sounds like the only song here that ONLY Tierra could make and it has unsurprisingly been the highlight for almost everyone I've seen talking about the project. Given that it is just 8 minutes and three songs a little bit goes a long way and I definitely think this is worth hearing, it just isn't quite as good as I was hoping. 6/10


Never Enough EP - Disclosure

I didn't really have a strong choice for what final EP I wanted to cover this year, but I felt obligated to talk about new Disclosure music given that I didn't get the chance to cover their album last year. I've never really been a big fan of the duo despite a pretty sizeable fanbase and even some critical acclaim here and there, this EP did not change my mind. Maybe it's just a result of how much great and creative house music there is out there but their brand has never really been that interesting to me and it sounds only a hair more interesting than some of the more generic EDM super DJs. Given that I wasn't prepared to take any kind of recreational drug to make the EP more interesting I just had to sink into the really rudimentary vocal samples and extremely familiar percussion patterns across these songs for what felt like a full length albums worth of runtime. Okay I'm being dramatic it isn't all bad, I've actually grown to like In My Arms quite a bit and it's second half breakdown is absolutely angelic and my favorite thing on the entire EP. But that doesn't make me any more likely to ever return to this, or drum up much excitement for what Disclosure might do next. 4.5/10

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