Kanyegenic.

The overall vibe of most of the 808s & Heartbreak reviews I've come across is this: It's kind of a mess, but isn't it great that Kanye is experimenting?  We need to support that.  Interesting.  While music journalism often runs pithy to downright vicious, what is it about Kanye that inspires such admiration cum generosity (or is that vice versa)?  The threat of being called out by a loud-mouth who's much cooler than you?  Solidarity amongst those of artistic leanings?  Maybe he's just done a good job selling the whole "heartbreak/art" angle.

I've warmed to the record a bit, though aside from "Paranoid" and "Street Lights," there aren't any tracks that I care to listen to individually, or on rewind.  Rather, I let it play out in the background while I clean the house.  And maybe that's half the idea - the play out, not the cleaning, though a  visit to his blog demonstrates Kanye's interest with music to be played in environments both residential and retail.  I guess 808s & Heartbreak is what happens when industrial design aficionados bring their obsessions into the studio.  Less bangin' and more Bang & Olufsen.

My more immediate impression, as tracks leaked over the last few months: Man, Kanye is really going for that '97 Bjork drum programming sound.  Which caused me to revisit Homegenic the other day.  I don't know if it's any longer relevant to say that an album from ___ still sounds fresh in ___, but Bjork and collaborators were on fire with this one.  A cold, quiet fire, but still.  So, anyway, maybe I'll have a greater appreciation for 808s & Heartbreak around 2019.  Maybe it'll help if I have a much nicer apartment.

In the meantime, I'm favoring this recently dropped and officially sanctioned Kanye (re)mixtape.  A little heavy on rattly B-more vibe, but worth it for the "Get 'Em High" and "Throw Some D's" mixes.  All 909s & Sunshine.