Sound: An electro, spacey hybrid of hip-hop, r&b and pop that favors cosmic, somber meditations with a digital pulse, but also–particularly in the second half of the album–jumps into, lighter more upbeat sexual romps and spiritual affirmations.
Heavy Rotation tracks: “Day ‘n’ Nite (Nightmare)” (Top 20 Songs of 2009 Candidate); “Alive (Nightmare)” featuring Ratatat; “Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)” featuring MGMT and Ratatat; “Solo Dolo (Nightmare)”; “Make Her Say” featuring Kanye West and Common; “Up Up and Away”
Medium Rotation tracks: The rest
Recommended: For a debut album, Man on the Moon is awfully fearless and innovative. The Cleveland-born, Brooklyn-based rapper/singer/songwriter/Kanye West collaborator shows off his angsty soul searching and oddball creativity throughout the disc and ushers in new possibilities for mainstream-accessible but indie-minded music. This isn’t an easy listen, though. The album is a bit long and disjointed, and the majority of the easier-to-digest tracks appear in the second half.
Grade: A- (Top 20 Albums of 2009 Candidate)
Listen to Tracks/Buy Music:
On iTunes
On amazon.com
[…] Update: It’s been a pretty mediocre year for hip-hop albums (and hip-hop in general)…until now. The much-anticipated debut from Kanye West affiliate Kid Cudi–Man on the Moon: The End of Day–lives up to the hype. And rising underground star Brother Ali delivers his best album yet with Us. Both releases make their way into the Top 3 of the year (so far). Meanwhile, Gossip’s Music for Men and The Features’ Some Kind of Salvation get bumped out of the Top 20. […]
[…] 61. Regina Spektor Begin to Hope (Sire) 62. Beck Guero (Interscope) 63. Kid Cudi Man on the Moon: The End of Day (Motown/G.O.O.D.) 64. Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose (Interscope) 65. Common Like Water for Chocolate (MCA) 66. Blonde Redhead Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons (Touch and Go) 67. Gomez In Our Gun (Virgin) 68. Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights (Matador) 69. Lupe Fiasco The Cool (Atlantic) 70. The Decemberists The Crane Wife (Capitol) […]