Mike Hopkins

Category: The 52 RPM Project

  • Run the Jewels 2 – Run The Jewels

    Run the Jewels 2 – Run The Jewels

    The irony is not lost on me as I mouth the lyrics “Lie, cheat, steal, kill, win – everybody’s doing it.” as I walk into church on Sunday. I take out my headphones and attend the worship service, but the production of El-P makes my knee bounce the entire time. Anyone who knows me knows…

  • Chet Baker Sings – Chet Baker

    Chet Baker Sings – Chet Baker

    When 24-year-old Chet Baker stood in front of the mic to record vocals for the first time in 1954, no one knew what to expect. Obviously, I wasn’t personally there, but I can’t imagine anyone was ready for the sanguine sound that came from the trumpeter. Fast forward to 2001, and Chet Baker Sings received…

  • Licensed to Ill – Beastie Boys

    Licensed to Ill – Beastie Boys

    If the line “I got rhymes galime, I got rhymes galilla/And I got more rhymes than Phyllis Diller” doesn’t sell you on Licensed to Ill, nothing I write hereafter will either. Right off the bat, this album is something that sounds like a setup to a great joke: three Jewish guys from New York and…

  • In The Aeroplane Over The Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel

    In The Aeroplane Over The Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel

    Oftentimes in music, the most profound music is the most simple. The first thing I noticed about In The Aeroplane Over the Sea is that the only guitar played the whole album is an acoustic. Although the bass kicks on the distortion and overdrive periodically and the drums crash chaotically, the guitar always remains a…

  • Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse – Of Montreal

    Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse – Of Montreal

    There’s something to be said for chaos in music. Ever since the advent of atonal theory and composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, there has been countless amounts of experimental music that tests the limits of music and – if I’m being frank – tests the limits of a listener’s ability to suspend judgment until after…

  • Post – Björk

    Post – Björk

    “You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” – Robin Williams Of the dozen albums I’ve reviewed so far, Post by Björk has been the biggest and most pleasant surprise. If you are at all familiar with Icelandic-based Björk’s work, you know that her music is anything but traditional and this album is no…

  • Go Go Harlem Baby – Flat Duo Jets

    Go Go Harlem Baby – Flat Duo Jets

    Flat Duo Jets is a a two-piece band that has an infatuation with good old rock ‘n’ roll. Made up of Dex Romweber on guitar and a drummer simply credited as “Crow,” this North Carolina-based duo create a sonic wall that many larger groups can only yearn to achieve. An influence of many lo-fi contemporaries,…

  • Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Original Broadway Cast Recording

    Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Original Broadway Cast Recording

    Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. His skin was pale and his eye was odd. He shaved the faces of gentlemen Who never thereafter were heard of again. He trod a path that few have trod, Did Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street To mix things up a bit, I’ve decided this week…

  • People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm – A Tribe Called Quest

    People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm – A Tribe Called Quest

    I glanced down the track listing. The 10th song was titled “Rhythm (Devoted to the Art of Moving Butts).” I knew I was in for a good experience already. I had heard of A Tribe Called Quest –  it’s a moniker you tend to remember. However, I wasn’t familiar with any of their music. After perusing…

  • Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd

    Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd

    I’ve long been a disciple not so much of Pink Floyd, but of their seminal album Dark Side of the Moon. It is about the best example of a flawless album as there is in the world. But, truth be told, I wasn’t too familiar with much of Pink Floyd’s other efforts. Of course, I…