Koushik – Out My Window (track by track review) |

d2f27c60219130fc3612d1492f8017dd - Koushik – Out My Window (track by track review)

A late summer gem from Stones Throw artist Koushik? (Warning…….I use the word “Groove” a lot”)

Morning Comes – 9.0/10 (The album’s opener sounds for a moment like it might explode, but instead it warms your every being like a soothing roll on the waves of the ocean. A simple song, yet so beautiful.)
Be With – 8.5/10 (Opening with a classic funk-bass groove, you almost question where the song is going to go. But you are soon locked into a trance with Koushik’s soft/hazy/dreamy vocals. Each addition throughout the song just enhances the groove, layered on to a worn piece of vinyl.)
Lying In The Sun – 10/10 (I really wish this album would have come out during late spring as it, especially this song, would have made the perfect summer soundtrack. A little more up tempo on this track but not noisy or distracting. The drum grove during the end is “classic groove” worthy. A sunny day has never heard such a wonderful tambourine.)
Coolin – 7.5/10 (Lacking the distinct hook that the album up to this point has, this song feels a little more trancy but it is a nice change of pace. Feels like it should fade you into a commercial break.)
Buttaflybeat – 6.5/10 (These short “filler” songs seem to be coming more common place on full length albums. I don’t mind when they are part of a bigger story, but don’t like them as much like this song because it doesn’t really add to the overall effect.)
See You – 8.0/10 (After such a strong start, the last few songs don’t quite make it to “let down” stage yet, but I was so hooked with the early tracks that these just make me want to push skip.)
Nothing’s The Same – 9.0/10 (Finally a return to form! Built on a loose feeling riff, you find yourself in a cloudy day dream, complete with whistling and a hint of down home love. The layering in this song is once again top notch. Not one sound seems out of place.)
Welcome – 6.0/10 (Blah…………..another short filler track)
Corner Of Your Smile – 8.5/10 (Loving to tiptoe around genres, you think that you are in for a different tune with the dreamy beginning, but the drums quickly return you back to the core of this album. Another example of what makes the album so great, to weave in and out of different genres/eras of music and still construct one cohesive album.)
In A Green Space – 7.5/10 (This song sounds like it belongs to a 70’s television show. Heavy on the porn soundtrack funk, the drums sound like RJD2 got his hands on them. This is the first track that I think sounds like it could have been written by someone else……mostly “Caribou”)
Ifoundu – 8.0/10 (The beginning sounds like a tripped out Christmas tune, the kind you would hear if you were on several hallucinogens. But you can’t let the X-mas feel distract you from this solid tune. Like many other songs, the vocals are very loose and the melody drenches before it evaporates.)
Outerlude – 7.5/10 (Um what can I say………another transition piece………but this is the best of the lot)
Bright and Shining – 9.0/10 (A very percussive tune and easily the most up beat song on the album. I really love the percussion as it pounds away with the horns and guitar. I wish that Koushik didn’t always abandon the vocals half way through his songs, because it ends up seeming like a really long outtro from time to time.)
Forest Loop – 7.0/10 (This filler/transition piece feels like an incomplete thought. I would have liked to have heard it hashed out as a full tune.)
Out My Window – 9.0/10 (A very strong late album track. Filled with sampled strings and the strong percussion that was built throughout the album. This song makes a statement, asking you to start over at track one when you are all done. The ending seems tacked on and would have done better if their wasn’t another track)
Floating On – 7.5/10 (Just as the name implies, I feel as if I were to close my eyes that I would float on to another world. This should have been flipped with “Out My Window” as they would have made a great 1-2 closing track.)