DOO-WOPS & HOOLIGANS: The Albums, 2011.

 Urban Hang Suite.

 04/The Weeknd/House of Balloons

Abel Tefaye paints pictures so vivid. And his brushstrokes are heavy, and his brushstrokes are thick. They're codeine laced and unflinching; Existing in a realm where excitement is sought, and more often than not found, after dark. Where complaints from neighboring tenants is expected, the drinking of Alize with your cereal is common, and girls call cabs at dawn, quarter to seven. Welcome to the "glamorous life", played out in real time, courtesy of The Weeknd. A hazy yet seductive compilation starring Glass Table Girls, pre marital hook ups, a cornocopia of drugs, and the schoolin' of life, the party, and the after party. Brooding, living vignettes in which no detail is sparred, and no rush is too debauched. The entire scene is narrated and buttressed handsomely by Mr. Tefaye himself, protaganist and bit player in the middle of it all, operating smoothly like Sade while harvesting a Dirty Mind a la Prince, "all the way turnt up".Painting pictures so vivid. A rhapsody in dark blue.
KEY TRACKS: High For This/What You Need/The Morning

05/Black Lips/Arabia Mountain 

06/Eleanor Friedberger/Last Summer 

07/CANT/Dreams Come True

08/Feist/Metals

09/Jay-Z & Kanye West/Watch the Throne

10/A$AP Rocky/LiveLoveA$AP

11/Tyler the Creator/GOBLIN

12/Drake/Take Care 

13/SBTRKT/SBTRKT

14/Junior Boys/It's All True

15/Danny Brown/XXX

16/JUSTICE/Audio, Video, Disco 

17/Jill Scott/The Light of the Sun 

18/CULTS/CULTS

19/James Blake/James Blake 

20/PJ Harvey/Let England Shake 

21/Lady Gaga/Born This Way

22/The Rapture/In the Grace of Your Love

23/Holy Ghost!/Holy Ghost!

24/Patrick Stump/Soul Punk

25/Beyonce/4