Black Soul and I Wayne

I reviewed Madlib's Medicine Show #10: Black Soul this week at RapReviews. An 80 minute disco mix. Good stuff.


I also reviewed I Wayne's new album Life Teachings, a solid reggae album.

Yesterday I went to the opening of Richard Serra's drawing retrospective at the SF Moma. I had seen the same show at the Metropolitan Museum in New York (my sister in law curated the show), but it is even better at the Moma. The pieces are better placed, there is more light, and they've included some of his sculptures. It is very sparse, minimal stuff, but interesting. I particularly like the piece below. Sort of punk rock.

Madlib/David Comes To Life

I reviewed Madlib's Medicine Show Vol. 11 this week at RapReviews. It's a collection of random beats and collaborations, many of which are pretty good, but that don't add up to a cohesive whole. One of my favorite tracks is Madlib's rap on this unreleased Jaylib track.



In unrelated news, Fucked Up just released the first video from their new album, with a children's choir singing instead of Pink Eyes. It makes you wonder what the band would be like if they had someone singing instead of shouting. It seems like it is part of a larger movie that the band is making for the album. Brilliance.



Bon Iver's self-titled album came out today. I'm not totally excited about it, mostly because I'm mellow folked-out right about now.

Madlib Medicine Show #8: Advanced Jazz Review

I reviewed Madlib's Advanced Jazz this week on RapReviews. It is an 80 minute mix of classic jazz.  Esoteric as all of Madlib's stuff, but still a nice starting point for some great jazz. It made me realize I have to check out Eric Dolphy, and dig deeper into Coltrane's mid-to-late-sixties catalog on Impulse. He's put out a ton of records, most of which are more experimental and out there than his early-sixties stuff like Giant Steps or My Favorite Things. I'm not always a huge fan of avant-garde jazz, but when it's not too abstract or dissonant it can be interesting. It makes me realize how little I really know about music, though.

I really like A Love Supreme. It's adventurous but still conventional enough for me to grasp on to.

Madlib Medicine Show #7: High Jazz

Stones Throw, 2010

First published on RapReviews.com

There's an ice cream shop in San Francisco called Humphrey Slocombe that specializes in "unique" flavors. So unique that they got written up in the New York Times about a month ago. Their most famous flavor is Secret Breakfast, which is vanilla with bourbon and cornflakes. Some of their flavors, like Secret Breakfast, offer a unique take on old standards, and end up being really good. However, a lot of them are just weird. I've tried their Peanut Butter Curry, which was edible but wacky, their Salt and Pepper, which was kinda gross, and their Balsamic Caramel, which was fucking nasty. My problem with Humphrey Slocombe is that their ice cream is interesting, but not particularly enjoyable.



Which brings me to Madlib's latest installment of his monthly Medicine Show, "High Jazz." This disc contains thirteen songs of Madlib's various avant-jazz incarnations. It includes tracks by Generation Match, Jahara Massamba Unit, the Kenny Cook Octet, Yesterday's New Quintet, and R.M.C. What are these different incarnations? I don't know. Are there other actual people in the groups, or is Madlib playing all the instruments? I don't know, except that Karim Riggins played drums on some of the tracks.
Before I get too deep in my criticism, I should disclose that I don't know a lot about avant-garde jazz, seventies or eighties jazz, or music theory. I own a lot of 50s and 60s jazz, but not much beyond that, and my collection doesn't get much more far out than a few Sun Ra albums that I enjoy but don't totally understand. I like jazz on an aesthetic, not intellectual level, appreciating how it sounds versus the theory and thought behind the composition. In short, I'm a lay person, so my observations and criticisms should be taken with a grain of salt. I've also not delved too far into Madlib's jazz persona. The only album I own is his jazz-funk "Sound Directions," which I liked. I've stayed away from his Yesterday's New Quintet material, mostly because I was pretty sure I'd feel the same way I felt about it as I felt about "High Jazz."

That said, I like what I like, and I wasn't liking a lot of "High Jazz." Partially because I don't "get" what he's doing musically, and don't have a refined enough ear to appreciate it. Mostly, though, I didn't get into "High Jazz" because many of the songs sounded half-baked and half-finished. "Reality or Dream" by the Big Black Foot Band featuring Black Spirit sounded like someone reciting poetry while the band warmed up. Generation Match's "Electronic Dimensions" was a series of electronic blurbs and bloops that meandered around without any since of direction or purpose, like two stoned robots talking to each other.  Russel Jenkins Jazz Express's "Drunk Again" sounds like three different bands playing three different songs at once. Jahari Massamba Unit's "Pretty Eyes" and "Wanderin'/Nighttime" are pretty enough, but underwhelming, more background music than something that commands your attention.
I'm fully aware that as someone who is not a big avant-garde jazz fan, I could be missing the genius of these songs. To the extent that I'm not enjoying this album because I'm not smart enough to get what's going on, so be it. My real complaint, however, is how half-assed and tossed off the above songs feel. Madlib has been churning music out like a madman this year, and I'm noticing a disturbing lack of finish to some of his output. It's like he's so concentrated on getting shit out the door that he doesn't spend enough time editing what he's doing, and the result is a noticeable sacrifice in quality as he increases his quantity. Madlib is a talented dude, and he should let his prolificness get in the way of making quality music.

Not that "High Jazz" is terrible. Things get more interesting on the deep spaciness of "Space and Time" by R.M.C., with its tinkling piano and heavy acoustic bass. Yesterday's New Quintet's "Conquistador" and the Big Black Foot Band's "Tarzan's Theme" also pick up the pace, providing a groove you can hold on to and sounding more recognizably like songs. Poysner, Riggins, and Jackson's "Funky Butt, Part 1" offers up some funky latin jazz, and the disc closes with "Kimo," a song by the Joe McDuphrey Experience that sounds like a jazz version of house music.

If you are a jazzhead, you might appreciate "High Jazz" on a level that I am unable to. Maybe I'm totally missing the point of this album. To me, it sounds like a lot of half-finished ideas that were rushed out to meet a deadline rather than a well-constructed, well-thought out album. Too much of it is like vinegar ice cream: interesting, but not very enjoyable.

O.J. Simpson Review

Article originally published on Rapreviews
Guilty Simpson :: O.J. Simpson :: Stones Throw Records 

I first saw Guilty Simpson about four years ago at a Stones Throw show, opening for Madlib. That show, along with his verses on "Watch Your Step" off of Percee P's "Perseverance," and "Take Notice" on Dilla's "Ruff Draft," made Guilty seem like the next big thing: a rapper who could be grimy as hell and still hang with the backpack crowd. Guilty was a Dilla protege, and  Dilla was supposed to be handling production on Guilty's debut. Then Dilla died,  and by the time "Ode to the Ghetto" appeared in March of 2008, there were hardly any Dilla joints on it.
Having Madlib, Black Milk, and Oh No pick up the slack was a nice consolation prize. While I enjoyed "Ode to the Ghetto", I respectfully disagree with this website's perfect rating of that album. It's a good album, but Guilty's rhyming sometimes resorted to gangster rap cliches, and I had trouble understanding what songs like "Getting Riches/Getting Bitches" were supposed to be the antidote for. Did we really need more thuggish gangsta rap? Aren't there about 100 street rap albums released each month that fill that niche? Rather than feeling like the Next Big Thing, "Ode to the Ghetto" was just more of the same.
I was hopeful when I learned that Madlib and Guilty were going to be collaborating on an album. Whatever his flaws, Guilty is still a solid rapper, and the combination of his straightforward gangsta rap over Madlib's wacked-out beats is brilliant. Madlib adds some variety and experimentation to Guilty's no-nonsense flow, and Guilty in turn grounds Madlib, keeping him from going off into the deep end. It's a perfect partnership, with one major problem: the skits.
I'm not a big skit person. Even skits that are funny get old the tenth time you hear them. They generally drag down an album, screwing up its momentum. That's especially the case with the skits on "O.J. Simpson." See, the collaboration between Madlib and Guilty goes beyond Madlib supplying the beats. He also does TWELVE skits on the album, which means that exactly half of the songs on "O.J. Simpson" are skits. You know it's bad when it starts off with a prelude and then an intro. You have to listen to two skits before you even get into the actual music. The skits are mostly made up of what appears to be Melvin Van Peebles routines set to music. Some of them are pretty funny, but not twelve, and not on repeated listens. Madlib got the mix right on the last Quasimoto album, mixing in a few soundbites in with the rest of the songs. On "O.J. Simpson, " it's total overload and would be a deal breaker except for the fact that you can delete his tracks from your playlist.
Let me be clear: Madlib's beats on this disc are top notch, and includes some of his better work. It's the skits that are half-assed, stoned experimentations that should have been left on the cutting room floor. Madlib is doing an album a month through his "Medicine Shop" series, along with a lot of other projects, and I'm sensing some fatigue. He'd be better off focusing on quality over quantity, waiting until he had something truly great to put out rather than selling all of his ideas at a premium.
Even with the skit overkill, "O.J. Simpson" is a great album. Guilty continues to come off like this generation's Ice Cube, an angry yet thoughtful rapper who can be surprisingly reflective underneath his tough exterior. "Cali Hills" is a nice recounting of his relationship with the late J Dilla. "Karma of a Kingpin" is about how he admired the gangsters in his Detroit neighborhood as a kid. "Back On the Road Again" is about the grind of touring, and the pressures it puts on his relationship. The centerpiece of the album is "Coroner's Music." I've been listening to it nonstop since it was released as a single at the beginning of the year, and I'm still not sick of it. Madlib delivers one of his nastiest, evilest beats, and Guilty is absolutely on fire:
"Coroners must love my shit for certain
I keep 'em working
[...]
In this rap tug-of-war I yank the cord and watch them fall down
My report is lethal
No equal
No survivors
No sequel
None compare
They crumble when the monster stares
I see through you
My heat do to you
What they shoulda did"
Guilty is joined by Strong Arm Steady on "Outside," (where he threatens "to turn your little house party into UFC"). and Frank on "Scratch Warning," but for the most part, this is Guilty's show. He's still not the most dexterous rapper, wielding his rhymes like blunt instruments. What he does offer is old-fashioned gangsta rap, hard as hell and with a sense of humor underneath all the posturing and scowling.
"O.J. Simpson" continues to deliver on the promise that Guilty Simpson showed on his early work, and sees him continuing to develop and hone his craft. Madlib's beats are an excellent foil to his rhymes, and the two compliment one another. The real weak point is Madlib's skits, which show that the Beatkonducta is overextended, and has lost the ability to self-edit. While I admire Madlib's work ethic, he should explore the less is more philosophy. In the meantime, "O.J. Simpson" is best enjoyed with the skits cut out of it.
Music Vibes: 7 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 8 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7.5 of 10

Applejaxx Review

I reviewed Jesus High on RapReviews this week, the new EP from Christian rapper Applejaxx. Not my thing. I'm working on a review of ANOTHER Christian rap group, Carnival, for next week. Me reviewing Christian rap is like someone with a wheat allergy reviewing a pastry shop.  Good for what it is, but not my cuppa.

Speaking of artists with religious views that conflict with my own, I've been getting really into Dillinger's CB200. He's a dancehall artist most known for his song "Cokane On My Brain." He's got a lot of other great songs that aren't so novelty-ish, and I'm loving that album. "Plantation Height" is one of my new favorite songs, and I love it even more than the Mighty Diamond's original, "I Need A Roof."

I've given the Guilty Simpson/Madlib collab, O.J. Simpson, a few spins. Surprisingly, Madlib is the weak link on that project. Half of twenty-four tracks are given over to lame skits where he basically plays back (Melvin Van Peebles?) comedy skits. It's half-assed, and takes away from the music. Guilty continues to be inconsistent as an MC, but "Coroner Music" has been one of my favorite songs since it was released earlier this year."

I'm also reading Rip It Up and Start Again,  a book on the post-punk scene of the late-70s early 80s. It talks about how much British bands were influenced by dub and reggae, especially in the bass. You can hear it in the rolling bass of Gang of Four, and in Jah Wobble's driving bass on PiL's "Poptones," one of my favorite songs ever.



PiL's whole second album, Metal Box/Second Edition, was song after song of bass-heavy death disco. I was in love with that record as a kid, and it still sounds good today. I also loved their follow up, Flowers of Romance, which was totally stripped down, with just bass, drums, and strings. I need to buy a copy of that. My 13-year-old self bought a cassette of that album at the Wherehouse on 41st ave in Capitola, and then listened to it obsessively while playing Nintendo, trying to figure it out.


I'm also thinking of buying the new Roots album. I haven't really gotten into anything they've ever done, although I've always liked the IDEA of them.

Madlib Medicine Show #4: 420 Chalice All-Stars Review

I reviewed Madlib's Medicine Show #4: 420 Chalice All-Stars this week on RapReviews. It's a mix cd of reggae, dub, and dancehall. Essential if you like reggae. I've been listening to it non-stop.

There's a series of YouTube videos that stream the album and give info on some of the tracks.

For A White Agnostic Who Doesn't Smoke Pot, I Sure Listen to a Lot of Reggae

I've been listening to a lot of reggae lately. I finally bought Lee Perry's Ape-ology, which collects his Superape, Roast Fish and Corn Bread, and Return of the Superape LPs. It's two CDs of the dankest, muddiest, deepest dub and reggae, the kind of music that you get a contact high from just listening to.
This video for "Roast Fish and Corn Bread" lets you see the master at work.


I also got Serge Gainsbourg's reggae album, Aux Armes Et Cetera. It was originally released in the late 70s, but got a rerelease in 2004 with an extra disc of new dub and deejay versions. It's sort of horrible, sort of awesome. Gainsbourg isn't exactly a reggae singer, but he's backed by Sly and Robbie, so it sounds good. His reworking of the French national anthem evidently caused riots when it came out.



I also got Madlib's Medicine Show #4, which is a mix of dub and deejay tunes. I'm loving it.


I was also listening to the two Joe Gibbs Discomix albums, which got me interested in deejay/dancehall, so I downloaded Major Laser's album from Emusic. It's a project from Diplo and Switch, the guys who did "Paper Planes," working with dancehall deejays. It's noisy, obnoxious, raunchy, and amazing, dancehall meets glitchy Bmore club music.

My biggest coup of the week, though, was figuring out who sang "Ring the Alarm." I had heard it sampled by Big Audio Dynamite and Fugazi, but I never knew the source. Turns out it is Tenor Saw, and there is an entire album (Stalag 17,19-20) with just that riddim. It's definitely a classic.

Beat Konducta In Africa Review

I reviewed Madlib's Medicine Show #3: Beat Konducta In Africa this week on RapReviews.
It's 78 minutes of beats made from African music. In other words, you should buy it.

Madlib Medicine Show #2 Review

I reviewed Madlib's Medicine Show #2: Flight to Brazil this week at RapReviews.

It's a mix of Brazilian music, mostly jazz. A little too mellow, but still worth a listen.

Here's a clip of him making a beat from a Brazilian record:

Hip-hop Podcast Roundup

I recently found an ipod and got a new work computer, and through this discovered the joys of podcasts. There are three hip-hop podcasts that I’m particularly enamored with.

My favorite is iconocastics hip-hop podcast.
http://www.iconocastic.com/


This is a regular, 16 – 20 minute mix of underground hip-hop. It seems like it is updated somewhat sporadically, but I don’t quite get podcasts yet, so maybe I’m wrong. My favorite mixes include their February 06 mix of Tanya Morgan, One.Be.Lo., etc. and their 8?06 mix which has stuff by Too Short, Mr. Lif, and ded prez. The shows are all divided into segments, so you can easily skip over songs you aren’t into. It’s bascically like someone with good music taste sending you a mix. Good stuff. Although it’s free, it could get expensive for me, because now there are all these albums I want to buy….

The there is the all hip hop review (http://www.allhiphopreview.typepad.com/). This is an hour-long podcast updated every 2-4 weeks. It features three dudes sitting around talking about hip-hop. It’s hosted by Trask, Phraze, and Chaos, and has been up for about six months. The episode I listened to had them talking about Birdman and Lil’ Wayne kissing each other on the mouth, Jay-Z,, LL Cool J vs. Jay Z, and how Chaos clowned the Notorious B.I.G. at a show back in the day. It’s kind of like the View – basically a big dish session that is equal parts catty gossip and insight. My favorite moment came when Chaos was saying how wrong it is for Jay Z to use the nickname “Jay Hova”, because it’s comparing him to Jehova, aka God. In the middle of this very serous discussion of how wrong it is to equate oneself with God, Chaos says “and if he was god, he’d have put more bass in his album!”

Their website is also way better than mine is.

Finally there is Stonesthrow, which is one of the better podcasts on the net, in that it gives you free mixes from Stones Throw artists. Want an hour of madlib mixing forty-fives? It’s on there? A J Dilla Tribute? It’s on there. High school funk band mix? Check out the site. Good times. Check ‘em out at feed://www.stonesthrow.com/jukebox/podcast.xml

-pst