Seven Essential Ska Albums (and the only ones really worth owning)

I love old ska. I first got into ska in the summer of 1987, when I went to the Manteca water slides with the Manresa Junior Lifeguards, and older JGs Shanae Machetti and Allison Moore played the English Beat’s “Mirror In the Bathroom” at our campsite. Slowly, through my older sister and her friends, I got exposed to the second wave British acts like the Specials and the Selector, and some Desmond Dekker stuff. I got really into ska my sophomore year of college, listening to bands like Operation Ivy, more Two Tone stuff, and local bands like Sacto’s Daisy Spot and Filibuster. My best friend Jaime was dating a (Philipino) skinhead in the mid-nineties, and hanging out with some of the Sacto skins, and through them I got exposed to more old ska and reggae, including Lee Perry’s “Chicken Scratch.” Lee Perry is better known for his reggae and dub stuff, but “Chicken Scratch” is an essential early ska album. I just picked up a remastered reissue from Heartbeat, and it still sounds wonderfully scratchy, just like old vinyl should. Ska was basically Jamaicans attempts at American R&B, and it has all the charm of old soul albums with the extra kick of that ska rhythm. Some of the tracks even sound like jump blues. (I recently learned, by the way, that ska is meant to be pronounced “skya,” and refers to the sound of the guitar. Just thought I’d mention.)

Listening to Chicken Scratch got me thinking about other ska albums, and so I’ve compiled a list of essential ska albums that no collection should be without. Because of ska’s limited range, this list is also the ONLY ska albums you need to own.

1. Chicken Scratch

2. Rockin’ Steady – the Best of Desmond Dekker. This came out in 1992 on Rhino. There is another greatest hits package floating around with two discs, which is an awful lot of Desmond Dekker. Either package is worth it for “That Woman,” “the Israelites,” “Honor Your Mother,” and “007” which is available on pretty much any early reggae collection.

3. The Harder They Come Soundtrack – Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, Toots and the Maytals…a lot of the great early reggae/ska is here. This was America’s real introduction to reggae.

4. The 2 Tone Story. The two-cd 2Tone singles collection. 2 Tone was the label that led Britain’s second wave of ska, in which punks and first-generation West Indian immigrants banded fused the energy with punk with the speed and angst of punk, creating some pretty great music. All the great British bands are here, including Madness, the Selector, the Specials, the Beat, and the Bodysnatchers. The second cd is mostly neo-mod and new wave stuff that is pretty inessential.

5 & 6. While you’re at it, you might as well pick up the Specials self-titled first album, and the Selector’s “Too Much Pressure.” Both bands have greatest-hits collections that are more readily available and collect the few gems from their second albums, but you might as well just go for their debuts.

7. Finally, you should get Operation Ivy’s self titled album on Hellcat, which I believe is a rerelease of their Lookout! Records discography. At the very least, it has their Energy! disc and is only missing a few tracks. Op Ivy were a late-80s punk/ska band, and one of the best to do that mix well. Their later incarnation Rancid had some ok songs as well, but Op Ivy are really the way to go if you want an American 3rd wave band. The one issue with Op Ivy is that they inspired leagues of imitators, none of whom were as good, and most of whom sucked.

Ska, like punk, is one of those genres which offers diminishing returns, so an artists second disc is worse than their first, and the third and fourth iterations of the genre have none of the wheat of the original and all of the chaff. That’s why Let’s Go Bowling, Skanking Pickle, and every other Bay Area ska band from the mid nineties is omitted from this list. They just aren’t worth your time, and these seven albums should be all you need, ska-wise. Neither is any of the bands’ later output. Anything that the British groups put out after 1984 isn’t worth your hard-earned money. (That same rule holds true for early 80s hardcore as well, by the way.)

Ska eventually morphed into reggae (at least in my version of the universe – let me know if you disagree), and there is a lot of great early reggae out there. If you are still jonesing for that ska beat, and can deal with a little mellowness, check out any of Trojan Records collections of early reggae. There is some good stuff in their vaults, and most of it ended up being covered by the British second wave bands.

Nas, Step Your Rap Game Up

Earlier this year, Nas made a shameless attempt at generating interest in his flagging career by saying he was going to name his new album "Nigger." Unsurprisingly, retailers, his label, and anyone with common sense pointed out that you can't really name your album an expletive, particularly an especially vile racial slur. Even if you are black.

So Nas caved, and now his album is untitled. I watched the video for "Sly Fox" on Pitchfork today, and it was pretty bloodless and lame. He's taking a stab at the media, but lines like "When I see CBS, all I see is B.S." are just embarrassing. Step it up, Nas. Quit trying to stir controversy, and focus on making good music. Please?

America is just a word but I use it

As usual I’m late to jump on the bandwagon with this, but a recent Sound Opinions show about their favorite songs about America got met thinking. So here are three songs that embody America to me:

Modest Mouse, “Novocaine Stain” off their 1996 album This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About

Modest Mouse were one of my favorite bands in the late nineties. They were the perfect soundtrack for depression, and for a quarter-life crisis. This song, about the changing landscape caused by development, perfectly captured my fears and anxiety about California and San Francisco’s ever-growing population. Everyone’s moving to paradise and turning it into a strip mall. No I don’t like this change of pace at all.

“Interchange plazas a mall
And crowded chain restaurants
More housing developments go up
Named after the things they replace
So welcome to Minnow Brook
And welcome to Shady Space
And it all seems a little abrupt
No I don't like this change of pace”


Minutemen “Corona” off Double Nickels on the Dime

Better known as the Jackass theme song, this rousing Tex-Mex blazer is actually a commentary on coming face to face with “the dirt, scarcity, and the emptiness/of our South.”

"The people will survive
In their environment
The dirt, scarcity, and the emptiness
Of our South
The injustice of our greed
The practice we inherit
The dirt, scarcity and the emptiness
Of our South
There on the beach
I could see it in her eyes
I only had a Corona
Five cent deposit"

It makes me tear up almost every time.

The Minutemen’s “I Felt Like A Gringo” is another song that reminds me of America, partially because it takes place on the 4th of July, but also because it discusses the awkward, ugly American abroad, both reviled and envied by those outside our borders. Over a funky, bluesy riff, D. Boon wails “A ton of white guilt that’s my problem. Obstacle to joy/one reason for using drugs.” The song is a classic example of Boon’s wonderful poetry, which seems simple on the surface, but deals with a lot of big questions.

“Slept on a mexican beach slept in trash - American trash -
thinking too much can ruin a good time.
I asked a Mexican who ran a bar for Americans
"Who won" I said "The election?",
He laughed, I felt like a gringo,
They played a song and had some fun with us.
Why can't you buy a good time?
Why are there soldiers in the street?
Why did I spend the fourth in someone else’s country?”

That song also gets honorable mention for containing several quotes that have continued to resonate with me since I first heard it almost twenty years ago. Why can’t you buy a good time? Why are there soldiers in the street? Why did I spend the fourth in someone else’s country?

Cool Kids

Cool Kids
Bake Sale
Chocolate Industries, 2008

I don't know much about the Cool Kids, other than they are a Chicago hipster-hop duo who have generated a lot of buzz among those in the blogosphere. Me, I don't have the patience/short attention span to keep up with the latest and greatest, so it takes me a few months/years to catch on to things. Bake Sale is their first official release, I believe, although they have released some mixtapes and singles over the past year.

It would be tempting for me to hate on the Cool Kids and their irony-drenched hip hop, only it's so much damn fun. Their beats are minimalist, futurist, and dance-oriented, in the same vein as a lot of hyphy stuff, only not annoying. Lyrically they are clever and funny. Imagine if the Pack had some better skills, or if Spank Rock weren't as sex obsessed - that's sort of the Cool Kids. I've been listening to this nonstop since I downloaded it from emusic, and you should too.

The Cool Kids also have a new mixtape, which you can download here.

Tanya Morgan - The Bridge

Tanya Morgan
The Bridge EP
IM Culture, 2008

I'm a Tanya Morgan fan, so I was happy to review their new EP for RapReviews this week. Here.

If you've never heard Tanya Morgan, you probably should. Their only flaw is an awkward name and some technical issues, given that they are located in Brooklyn and Cincinnati, and do a lot of their recording over the internet. Sometimes the vocals come in at different levels, which can make their recordings sound more amatuerish than they deserve. Still, good stuff.


There is a good interview with the crew at Mixtape Monster here.

Skate Punk

I traded a bunch of stuff to Amoeba the other day and picked up a copy of We Know You Suck, a compilation of Arizona skate punk band JFA's stuff. It's basically their Blatant Localism and Valley of the Yakes albums, with some bonus tracks and live stuff. I had a cassette of their albums when I was a kid, and it was one of my favorite punk albums. They mix 80s hardcore with a slight surf vibe, including covers of "Baja" and "Walk Don't Run." None of their songs clocked in at more than three minutes, and you couldn't really understand a word they said. They thankfully broke up before turning into a shitty hard rock band, although they have reappeared in paunchier form to crank out their old hits to aging punkers on a nostalgia trip. Like myself.

JFA (Jody Foster's Army - how cool is that?) were skaters, like my 13-year-old self, and I first heard about them on Thrasher's "Skate Rock: VOl. 1" comp. I just found a download of that cassette-only release, and I have to say, for how impactful it was on my as a teen, it doesn't really hold up. The highlight are two Skoundrelz tracks, which I guess was Tony Alva's band. They played fast and dirty hardcore, a little like Fishsticks, who none of you have heard of, because they sold like twenty albums.

I originally found the download at some Spanish site, the profile of which was a swastika made out of a confederate flag. So then I ask, do I download it anyways? A: No, because the links didn't work.

J.R. Writer and Plies

There are times when I rush to do reviews because I am really excited about an album, and then there are times when I rush to do reviews because I don’t want to have to listen to it anymore. Plies and J.R. Writer are examples of the latter, both up on Rapreviews now. J.R. Writer is generic crack rap which sounds like all of the rest of the Dipset stuff, ie slick but not very good. Plies is Floribean rap that is a little like a second-rate UGK, which means slick, funky synths and lots of gutter talk. It has one of the most disturbing covers I’ve seen in a while, of him in a ski mask wearing a medallion of him in a ski mask. It looks like a caricature of black criminality from a white supremacist site. Plus I had to skip yoga so that I could crank it out Monday night. Nothing is less hip hop than having to ditch your Astanga class to write about a rapper with songs like “Feel Like Fuckin.’” I tell you, life ain’t shit to fool with. But with those reviews out of the way, I have time to listen to music that is less offensive and shitty, like the new Cool Kids E.P., or the new My Morning Jacket – I’m determined to learn to love it. Nothing is less hip hop than shelving your gangsta rap cd so you can listen to a Southern Jam band.

Anyways, the review of J.R. Writer’s Politics and Bullshit is here.

The review of Plies' Definition of Real is here.

Evil Urges

My Morning Jacket
Evil Urges
ATO, 2008

My Morning Jacket’s 2005 album Z is one of my favorite records of the last few years. It defies classification – a little jam band, a little southern classic rock, a little indie rock, a little prog, and all awesome. I was excited for Evil Urges in a way that I don’t get excited about music much anymore. What were they gonna do this time? When you make a masterpiece, where do you go from there?

A lot of bands have tried to answer that question. Some, like Radiohead, go off into a radically different direction. Some, like My Bloody Valentine, fall apart, others try to recapture that magic to increasingly diminishing returns, while still others, like …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, try to expand their sound and end up with something closer to mediocrity than genius.

Which brings me to Evil Urges. From the opening chords of the title track, you know the boys are trying to be on some next level shit. Prince falsettos? Funky guitar work? Um, ok. Does it work? Sort of. Is it good? Mmmm….well, it’s not actively bad. How’s that?

“Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 1” is better, and shows the band expanding on their prog tendencies (like having a two-part song). They try to get their rock on on a few songs. “Remnants” sounds a like a Seattle circa flannels and heroin; “Aluminum Park” is a classic MMJ uptempo number. Their biggest stretch, and their biggest failure, is “Highly Suspicious,” which is so bad I didn’t download it.

They also play it mellow and safe, with mixed results. “The Librarian” is a tender love song that has some of the albums best and worst lyrics. No band that isn’t the Bare Naked Ladies should ever use “interweb” in its lyrics. MMJ redeem that party foul with lines like “what is it inside our heads that makes us do the opposite?/
Makes us do the opposite of what's right for us?”

“Sec Walking” and “Look At You” are wailing alt-country that are heartbreakingly great, but their Skynard-esque “I’m Amazed” is hampered by horrible lyrics and sounds kind of like an ad for a big truck.

In the end, Evil Urges doesn’t deserve either the four stars Rolling Stone gave it, or the 4.7 of 10 that uber-snobs Pitchfork awarded it. The truth is that it is pretty good, but hardly fucking amazing. That means that it is worth checking out, but a disappointment coming after Z.

Drapht Review

Drapht
Brothers Grimm
Obese Records, 2008

Drapth is a 23-year-old MC from Perth, Australia. His melodic delivery didn't rock my world, but he is backed by good beats, and doesn't try to be the hardest guy in the room. My review is here.

Not brilliant, but worth checking out. I especially liked "Money" and "Dreams and Dreamers." Go Perth.

What Does It All Mean?

I reviewed Steinski's retrospective, What Does It All Mean, in RapReviews this week.  Here. 

His "Lessons" were a pretty big deal, and very rare, since none of the sample are cleared.  You should probably buy this record.  Really.  It's the best of classic hip hop, plus some pretty cool sound collages. You should also check out his blog at www.steinski.com

Plus, it's got a really great cover.  Helvetica baby.  Fascist minimalism is the new future!

I also reviewed MC Rentz' 1981.  Here

I was not a fan of Rentz, and it is only out of a sense of duty to give an honest review that I forced myself to listen to the whole thing.  He seems like a nice enough guy, and he has some talent as a lyricist and producer, but I can't deal with his rapping.  100% not my thing.  You can check it out for yourself here.

When Life Gives You Lemons

Atmosphere
When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
Rhymesayers, 2008

Atmosphere, the Minneapolis rap group headed by MC Slug and beatmaker Ant have been making music for the proverbial hip hop minute. They’ve become known as emo-rap, mostly due to Slug’s confessional, autobiographical lyrics which detail his every flaw, from being an imperfect father and lover to smoking and drinking too much. However, Slug is much more than just another self-pitying rapper, and Atmosphere are clearly angling to be more than just another rap group. They’ve been touring with a live band, and on Ant is starting to move away from his autobiographical lyrics and expand his range.

The result, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, is basically hip hop’s answer to Bruce Springsteen. Slug moves out of the limelight, telling tales in the second and third person. His songs are populated by drug addicts, prostitutes, alcoholics, bad fathers, and homeless people. They are all down on their luck, and they are all victims of Bushenomics and the failed American dream that ends in foreclosure. He tackles his subjects with empathy and sensitivity. Slug understands that no one is perfect, and even the biggest fuck-ups often mean well. “You gotta let people be hypocrites,” he says on opener “Like the Rest of Us.” “Count your blessings and mind your business.”

When it works, When Life Gives You Lemons offers the kind of emotional experience that is rare in hip hop, a genre that is generally obsessed with getting yours by any means necessary. “Guarantees” is heartbreakingly gorgeous in its personification of a warehouse worker on his last straw; “You” offers a you-go-girl celebration of a down-on-her luck waitress; “Shoulda Known” describes a relationship with drug addict; and “Your Glasshouse” is a frightening description of an alcoholic’s lost weekend. On these tracks, and several others, Atmosphere manage to combine compelling beats with stories that are emotional without being cheesy. Ant moves on from his old-school leaning beats, instead offering up several tracks based around pianos, and a few tracks of old synthesizers. For the most part, it works.

There are two issues with When Life Gives You Lemons: the first is that Slug hits that alcoholic/drug addict story two often, and sometimes is maudlin and cliché. The other issues is that this is a drab, downtempo album. On tracks like the sparse “Guarantees” or “Puppets,” it works, but a whole album of depressing, slow songs is a bit much. There are handful of tracks on here that are too cheesy, and try too hard for the emotional punch, like Pay It Forward set to music. “Yesterday” is an example of how Slug can slip into high school poetry mode; Over tinkling pianos, he tells the tale of an unknown person who he thought he saw on the street, reminiscing about this person, and wondering what there up to. The kicker comes towards the end, when he says “but you passed away, dad.” It’s a little painful. There are a few more moments like this on the album, but, I’m willing to forgive them for these missteps – they are reaching as artists, and the payoffs make up for the mistakes. I hope that in future albums, Slug watches not to slip into total cliché mode, and Ant keeps things a little more upbeat. When Life Gives You Lemons is an album that is as good as its title. Paint that shit gold indeed.

As a side note, I bought the “Deluxe” version of the album, which comes in book form with a children’s story, lyrics, and a live dvd. It’s interesting, but not essential. The live DVD proves that they are damn good live act.

Nut-Rageous

Nut-Rageous
Raw Nuts
Poor Pocket Muzik

Review here.

Good East Coast beats marred by some below-average rapping. Nut-Rageous seems like a decent guy, and he has some alright lines, but this just doesn't work for me. It was one of those albums where at first I though it was pretty good, only to realize that it didn't quite add up. Old school East Coast fans should give this a listen, but it's not a must-have.

Albums You Should Own Pt. II

Black Flag
My War
SST, 1984

Black Flag were formed in SoCal (I can't remember the specific area, and I'm one of those people who refer to everything south of Santa Barbara and north of San Diego as "Los Angeles") in the late 70s by Greg Ginn (who is a cousin or brother of artist Raymond Pettibon, who designed the Black Flag Bars). Their early incarnation featured Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris on vocals, and was straight ahead hardcore. Their 1978 EP Nervous Breakdown is essential early hardcore punk.

They went through a revolving list of singers and musicians before finally settling on a young Henry Rollins, who jumped onstage to sing at a show in DC. Rollins brought his own element of angry, tough-guy alienation to Black Flag, and purists often say he ruined the band. Personally, I was a huge fan of Rollins, and I much prefer Rollins-era Black Flag to the earlier stuff. The band had some label drama after they released 1981's Damage, which resulted in them not being able to put anything out for three years. When the embargo was lifted, they were insanely prolific, putting out SIX albums between March 1984 and October 2005. My War was the first.

The album marked Black Flag's shift from a hardcore punk band to a Sabbath-inspired metal band. The first side of the album contained heavy punk songs, but the entire side two is just three long, slow dirges. Again, purists freaked out. Where were the two minutes blast of angst? Who needs a six minute metal blues jam with Rollins screaming lyrics like "I might be a big baby/But I'll scream in your ear/until I find out just what it is I am doing here?" Well, I did. As a 13-14 year-old, I thrived on Rollin's brand of alienation. The entire lyrics to "My War" are essentially "My war/you're one of them/you say you're my friend/but you're one of them." That is pure teen angst. Fuck my parents! Fuck the popular kids! they're one of them!

I listened to My War endlessly as a teen. It was heavy, it was angry, it was awesome. It had a huge influence on my as a kid, how I viewed others, and how I viewed myself. Music in general, and Black Flag specifically, were this oasis where I could retreat to. They echoed a lot of the feelings I was having, they acted as a surrogate for emotions I couldn't express, and they validated all the dramas and traumas I was going through, from the minor to the major. It's tough being a kid, and being able to look up to these burly older guys who were screaming their heads off was incredibly therapeutic.

I downloaded My War from emusic the other day, and I have to say that while it is still awesomely heavy, the lyrics don't quite move my soul the way they used to. For example: "My life's a piece of shit that got caught in my shoe/and i've been grinding that stick in the dirt for a long time now!" At 14 that sounded awesome, at 33 it's just kind of embarrassing. It's shocking to think that My War is twenty-four years old. It is an album that has loomed large in my life since I first saw its iconic cover in a Cymbaline record store in Capitola circa 1987. It remains one of my favorite album covers of all time. I think Raymond Pettibon's art is genius. I've considered buying a t-shirt of it, but I feel like I'm too old. I still have a soft spot in my heart for My War, and I'm looking forward to burning copies for my nephew when he comes of age. Although hopefully he will be a much better adjusted kid than I was.

Albums You Should Own

Mogwai
Come On Die Young
Matador, 1999

Mogwai are a Scottish band who formed part of what is sometimes known as the “post-rock” and slow-core movements. To paraphrase/plagurize Wikipedia, post-rock is essentially non-rock music created with rock instruments, and slowcore is along the same lines. Think Slint, Sigur Ros, Tortoise, etc. Basically, they make long, slow, intricate instrumentals using bass, guitar, and drums. It’s influenced by shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine, and lots and lots of depressants.

Come On Die Young is actually mellower than Mogwai’s other stuff, which is kind of why I like it. I have to admit that the first few times I listened to it, I was really unimpressed. It sounds like three dudes got together, chased some vicodin down with some pot, and jammed. Only after repeated listens did I really get the subtle beauty of the album, and the intricate patterns and structures in the songs. My favorite track, “Cody,” is the only track with vocals, and it is stunning. My other favorite track is the ten-minute-long "XMas Steps," which slowly builds to this incredible crescendo.

It is the perfect sleepy late-night album: This is driving at 3:00 AM music, when the world is still and quiet and you’re not quiet sure that you aren’t the last person left on earth. It’s painfully beautiful, sad, and lonely, and you should probably own it.

Emusic Roundup

Here are some of the albums I’ve downloaded off Emusic in the past six weeks.

Radiohead – In Rainbows. Is awesome.

Atmosphere – You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having.
This came out a few years ago, and I figured I’d check it out since they don’t have his latest one. Atmosphere does a sort of hip hop Springsteen or something. It’s emo rap with slightly cheesy lyrics that are wholly redeemed by amazing beats and MC Slug’s heartfelt understanding of what it is to be underpaid and overcharged in the U.S. of A. The perfect example is “That Night,” a track about a young girl who got raped at an Atmosphere show. It just skirts being kind of lame and manages to be pretty heartbreaking, while having a pounding, funky beat.

Dodos – Visiter. SF indie folk band who are pretty great.

The Drift – My old roommate Safa is the bassist for this band, who do mellow instrumentals. They are interesting, if a little obtuse. A little like a jazzier C.O.D.Y. - era Mogwai.

Neu! - Neu! Were a German band who were a big influence on Stereolab. I’ve been hearing about these guys for years, and I sort of feel like I arrived too late to the party. In 1995, I would have loved this album (which came out in 1975, the year of my birth). Now, I just can’t get into it.

El Perro Del Mar – I downloaded this for my girlfriend. She’s not excited about it, and neither am I. maybe it will grow on us.

Music With Friends Vol. 1

Sankofa
Music With Friends, Vol. 1.

Sankofa is an indie rapper out of Fort Wayne, Indiana. I reviewed his 2007 album “Tortoise Hustle,” which I really liked. This is a free download that isn’t quite as strong, but still worth checking out. www.obeseamerica.com.

Review here.

My New Favorite Song or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love Emo Rap

I've never been a huge fan of white rappers. Hip hop is such an idiomatic genre, and so heavily rooted in African american musical and linguistic traditions that when white people do it, more often than not it just doesn't work. They are either trying to imitate black performers, and failing miserably, or they put this pop spin on it that just kind of sucks.

I've always resisted Atmosphere and their brand of emo rap, and I've always written Slug off as a white rapper. Then I heard "Guarantees," off of their new album. The song is just Slug rapping over a bluesy guitar, without a beat, and it perfectly sums up the struggles of the middle-turned-working classes under Bushenomics:

No overtime pay no holiday
Months behind on everything but the lottery
Winter round the corner guaranteeing that my car died
Wifey having trouble juggling both the part times
My cup aint close to filled up
We trying to build up so we can have enough
And when I finally get the color
There won’t be nothing left to paint on
My friend tried to kill himself to the same song

I firmly believe that hip hop is modern blues, and this song is evidence. He comes up with clever, heartbreaking turns of phrase like "Can't save no nest egg in fact this nest is rented
In fact that rent is late, wait." You can download that track and their mixtape Extreme Leakage from www.rhymesayers.com. I just got his 2006 album "You Can't Believe How Much Fun We're Having," and it's pretty awesome. I'm thinking I may shell out 16 bucks for the deee-lucks version of his new one, "When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold," which comes with a bonus DVD and children's book. Turns out that Slug is only half-white, too, which just makes me feel like a big old racist dumbass.

Dert

Dert
The Short List
Illect Recordings, 2008

This is an instrumental album by this hip hop producer. It’s ok, but way too mellow for my tastes. Very downtempo. He did a beat tape using Jose Gonzales’ Veneer album that I’ve been listening to.

Review here.

Or here: http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2008_05_theshortlist.html

Battlehoggs Mixtape

Review here.

Aussies actually make pretty ok hip hop. They got the beats down, at least. Lyrically, it’s mostly about drinking, girls, and life in the city. Not brilliant, but not bad.


http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2008_05_battlehoggsvol2.html

Everywhere At Once

Lyrics Born
Everywhere At Once
Anti/Quannum 2008

This was the featured review last week on rapreviews. I liked it, although it isn’t exactly my type of hip hop – a little too colorful for my tastes. Still, it’s fun, funky album with only a few crumby tracks, and I’m excited that I got it as a promo. Survey says: worth checking out.

Review here.

Or here: http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2008_05F_everywhereatonce.html

He’s Just A Rascal

I first heard British Rapper Dizzee Rascal on the Basement Jaxx’s “Lucky Star” in 2003. I found his hiccupy flow kind of irritating, but was eventually coerced into buying his debut, Boy In Da Corner, when it received obsequious praise from the critics. Dizzee was part of the grime movement, which was basically London gangsta rap over garage beats. It combined hard-hitting rhymes with hard-hitting beats that were more techno than hip hop. Grime is thus named because it is so dirty and grimey sounding.

Boy In Da Corner is a good album, and it has some great tracks on it. Dizzee offers up a sound that is totally unique and unlike American hip hop, while still being true to the spirit of hip hop. His beats are punishing, and his aggressive but staccato flow is lethal. Unfortunately, he is also kind of difficult to listen to for long periods of time precisely because he is so punishing. I’ve never listened to Boy In Da Corner in it’s entirety. 2-3 track of Dizzee is thrilling, 14-16 tracks is annoying.

I didn’t really hear his follow up, Showtime, and when Maths and English was released as a download-only last year, I took a pass. However, when Def Jux re-released it on April 29, I decided to support Dizzee and the label and bought it. As with his debut, there are some brilliant moments on this disc, particularly “Where Da G’s,” featuring Texas duo UGK rapping “Dizze Ras’ and UGK/You know we stay connected/ Trill recognizes Trill.” The track has a whining synth mixed with Dizzee’s signature garage thwump, and like several other tracks on the disc (“Wanna Be,” “G.H.E.T.T.O.”), “Where Da G’s” asserts Dizzee’s street cred while calling out phony gangstas. “What’s with all the fake aggression?” Dizze asks. “I can see that it’s not true/I know killers/ I know gangsters/ and they never heard of you.” “Wanna Be” features a chorus by Lilly Allen, which is pretty awesome. Another brilliant track is “Driving With No Where to Go,” which has a Kraftwerk-like beat. Lyrically, Dizzee deals with staying trill, being paranoid, and basically dealing with the drama of fame. He also gets a little light-hearted at points, but for the most part this is a pretty tough disc. So tough, in fact, that I can’t really listen to the whole thing all in one sitting, and several of the tracks (“Sirens,” Suck My Dick”) must make me feel old. Still, it’s worth listening to, even if it doesn’t come with "Pussy’ole", the best track off of the UK version. I’m pretty sure there were licensing/sampling issues, because the only version I can find is a remix riffing off Rob Base’s “It Takes 2.”

The Roots

The Roots
Rising Down

I want to like the Roots more than I do. Their 1999 album, Things Fall Apart, is considered a masterpiece, and they get constant praise from the critical community. They do angry but positive hip hop grounded in live instruments, and they are said to be the best live act in hip hop. Unfortunately, they kind of bore the hell out of me. I’ve listened to Things Fall Apart a million times, and while it’s ok, it just doesn’t excite me.

I bought their new disc, Rising Down, after hearing “75 Bars.” It is exactly that, 75 bars of Black Thought spitting absolute fire over a hammering, funky drum beat. I always wonder why more rappers don’t create their own funky breaks rather than paying a million dollars to sample them, and producer/drummer ?uestlove does exactly that on this track – he lays down the funkiest, dirtiest break this side of the Funky Drummer.
Black Thought also wins awards for most uses of the word “nigga” in a song:

I'm a modern day saint; I'm a modern day king My definition I can finally explain Cold smooth like that dud Sean Connery was playing I just got to be the man, I'm the father figure and When I spit it's something like a psychology exam If you stand where I stood, you could probably understand How that mic feeling like a million dollars in my hand It's the silence of the lamb, go and cop another gram And twist with your zanny, work your set, work it down What's your net working plan? You better look alive Cause them niggas outside looking desperate again nigga And the blunts and liquor killing our lungs and liver The asthmatic drug addict I function with it I put a rapper in a hole where the dust will sit For spitting played out patterns that once was hitting I got news for you all, let me show you how to ball See the legendary fall? I ain't heard of that Y'all niggas is off the wall like Aresnio Hall I'm a put you right back where the dirt is at 450 fahrenheit on the thermostat Somebody starving like a white girl? that But she not a earner yet, she couldn't put in no work, Not earning that, the black microphone murder vet

The rest of the album is strong, although it can’t maintain the fire of the first few tracks. Some of the guest rappers are less than genius, and there are some cheesy moments. Still, it’s worth the price of admission just to hear Mos Def spit fire on the title track. The boom bap of “Get Busy,” the sinister funk of “I Will Not Apologize,” Talib Kweli’s guest verses on the hard hitting “Lost Desire,” and Wale’s guest appearance on “Rising Up.” I don’t know that Rising Down has converted me to being a hardore Roots fan, but I am starting to understand what the fuss is about.

Radiohead part 2

A few months ago, I wrote a snarky post dissing Radiohead, mostly prompted by the obsequious praise they get from the press, and the hype surrounding their release of “In Rainbows” as a pay-what-you-want download. I have a few things to say RE; Radiohead:

1. “Hail to the Thief” is a shitty album
2. Before everyone disses record companies and praises Radiohead’s DIY approach, remember that they got where they are by all the support and promotion from their record label (and being one of the more amazing bands of the last fifteen years). If “In Rainbows” was the debut album by an unknown group, absolutely no one but the Pitchfork crowd would give a shit.
3. “In Rainbows” is pretty awesome. It is much more human than their past few releases, incorporating actual songwriting into their experimentation.

Keith Murray review

Keith Murray
Intellectual Violence
Legion of Doom, 2008

Review here. It was the featured review on rapreviews last week.

I was impressed by his old school skills, but this album suffers from the same fate as the last Ghostface record – he’s on overdrive all the time, and it grates. The thuggery gets old quick, too.

Survey says: meh.

Tanya Morgan

Tanya Morgan
Moonlighting
Loud Minority, 2006

My review is here.

This is one of my favorite albums in a while. Good, solid, positive hip hop.

Bad Luck and Nathan Blaze

This week on www.rapreviews.com I reviewed Bad Luck’s Make It Brief. He’s a young NYMC who is sort of like a gutter Kool Keith, which is kind of cool. EDK supplies the beats and do some of that somber NY shit mixed with a little esoteric/indie flavor. Not brilliant, but not bad, and worth keeping an eye on.

I also reviewed the demo by Nathan Blaze, which I wasn’t feeling. I never have liked white MCs, especially when they do that Eminem-being-serious thing. It’s like they are trying to hard. Meh. You can go to www.nathanblazemusic.com to sample and purchase if you feel so inclined.

I Am A Fucking Hippy Who Listens To Jam Bands

I have a deep, deep hatred of hippies, dating back to my childhood growing up near Santa Cruz California being suffocated by mellowness. I used to want to make a mock up of the Sex Pistol's God Save The Queen art, only with Jerry Garcia's face. As I've gotten older, however, I've started to embrace some of the very hippy tropes that used to make me want to throw up on myself. For example, I go to yoga, I try to eat organic, whole food, I wear hemp shoes, I recycle, and, most disturbingly, I wear essential oils, including the dreaded patchouli. Patchouli has become my signature scent in some ways, because I use Lush's Aramaco deodorant which has patchouli.

A staple of being an Angry Punk Rock kid was hating the Grateful Dead. I still don't fuck with Jerry and Crew, but I no longer detest them, and compared to a lot of the horseshit being put out today they seem downright innocuous. What really freaks me out is that I've gotten in to two bands recently who are basically (GASP) JAM BANDS.

The first is My Morning Jacket. They are from Kentucky, and do a kind of stoned, Southern-fried indie country that is much, much better than it should be. I have only heard Z, which came out a few years ago, but it is one of my favorite albums of this decade. They got the chops, the songwriting, and they reference classic rock while still being interesting and innovative.

The other hippy-ass band i've been listening to is Wilco, ten years after everyone first started telling me they were amazing. I saw the documentary about them called "I Am Breaking Your Heart" a few weeks ago, and have been listening to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot obsessively since. Like MMJ, they mix classic rock elements with alt-country, and then fuck with it enough to make it sound new and un-tired.

As I was cruising up the Sonoma Coast last weekend in a rented Prius, "Kamera" came on, and I realized that with it's sweetly sung, country-lite harmonies, it could easily be a "Working Dead" era Grateful Dead song. And still I love it. I still detest tie dye, so I got that going for me, but I'm wondering these days when I became such a goddamn hippie. Maybe getting older means becoming what you hate, and realizing it wasn't as bad as you thought.

Rilo Kiley LIVE!

I saw Rilo Kiley at the SF Design Concourse last night, which is located near the Trader Joes/Mars Bar at 8th and Bryant. It was my first show at the venue, which is a little funky - it sort of felt like a warehouse with astroturf carpeting. It's a large space, and was about half full, and about half that crowd were young women who were probably too young to drink. About 2/3rds of the remaining crowd were cuddling couples, and the rest of the audience was made up of single people trying not to throw up on themselves because of all the excessive snuggling.

In rare perfect timing, I arrived exactly as Rilo Kiley came onstage. I don't go to too many shows that are frequented by large numbers of girls/ young women, and the enthusiastic screaming that accompanied everything Jenny Lewis did was new to me.

Speaking of Jenny Lewis, while she remains very fetching, I have to say that standing in a crowd with 1,000 other people who thought she was hot diminished her appeal in my eyes. I've always hated liking things that were popular. Her voice was great, however, and she definitely brings a lot of personality and sex appeal to a band that would otherwise be a bunch of nebbish dudes.

The band sounded pretty good, although it did show that this was the first night of their tour. Jenny fucked up one of the songs and had to start over, and there was a general awkwardness, like a party before people have finished their first drink. The best sounding songs were from their new album, which are more complex and energetic than a lot of their early stuff. After watching Jenny strut her stuff to the pop/R & B of "breakin' up" I wondered if she is due for a pop album soon, reinventing herself as an indie Ashlee simpson or something. They encored with "Portions for Foxes," which was sloppy, but still thrilling to hear Jenny sing "talking leads to touching/and touching leads to sex/ and then their is no mystery left/ cuz I'm bad news/ baby I'm bad news." During the closing chords we rushed outside and caught the first cab that came. It wasn't the best show I've ever seen, and I'm not sure it was quite worth the forty dollars the tickets cost, but whatevs. It beat sitting at home and watching the office. Plus I got to bed by 11:30, so it was perfect for an old fart like me.

Most importantly, we went to Sushi Zone, which was fucking awesome AND cheap.

King Vision

Grand Buffet
King Vision

Review here.

I was somewhat excited by their mix of hip hop, electro punk, and Naked Lunch, but not so much to prevent me from selling it back to Amoeba.

Under the Blacklight

Rilo Kiley
Under the Blacklight
Warner Brothers Records, 2007

I’m going to see Rilo Kiley this Thursday, so I thought I’d catch up on their music. All I really know about them is that Jenny Lewis is really pretty. She has alabaster skin, ginger hair, a gorgeous voice, and a potty mouth. Her musical persona reminds me of the kind of woman whose kisses taste like cigarettes and gin and tonics, whose fragile beauty is on the verge of being destroyed by age and hard living, who drinks enough to qualify her as an alcoholic, and who would feed your heart to the pitbull owned by one of her other lovers. In other words, the kind of femme fatale that has made film noir such a compelling genre for sixty-odd years.

Under The Blacklight is Rilo Kiley’s pop album, and it sounds like it was produced by the team that handles American Idol winners. It’s got a glossy sheen that is a striking contrast to their indie roots. To me it sounds like the soundtrack to a romantic comedy where an impossibly beautiful heroine is dumped by her gorgeous yet oily corporate boyfriend, which leads her to romp throughout Manhattan or Beverly Hills in stilettos in an intense bout of retail therapy, only to find true love in the arms of a chiseled, rugged mensch with tussled hair who can cook and likes kids. And at the end they kiss, the repeat the first thing they said to each other, he says something impossibly romantic, and the film ends assuming that they live happily ever after.

Like a mainstream RomCom from your favorite quirky indie director, Under the Blacklight has it’s share of embarrassing moments, namely the wretched “The Moneymaker,” and the lame, Miami Sound Machine-esque “Dejalo.” They are redeemed, however, by some truly sublime moments, like “Close Call,” the Fleetwood Mac-esque “Dreamworld,” and “Smoke Detector,” which is raunchy rock n’ roll.

Essentially, the album is the mainstream attempt by your favorite indie crew, and as such loses some of what makes them so charming in the first place, and it isn’t entirely successful at achieving the mediocrity that it shoudn’t ever have tried to duplicate in the first place.

I admire Rilo Kiley’s ability to take chances and expand their musical range. I like that they aren’t just treading the same well-worn indie country boards. However, I hope they find a sound that is more comfortable and organic with what they are. The world doesn’t really need another overproduced, dumbed down pop record, and that’s what Under the Blacklight is in it’s lesser moments.

Crack, Strippers, and Guap

Yung Ralph
The Juug Man DVD
Review here.

Naked strippers cooking crack. Yessirree.

Gah.

You Think It’s Alright, But It’s Really Just Shite….

WNYC Soundcheck had a debate between critics Michael Azerrad and Jim DeRogatis about REM’s new album, Accelerate. Jim thought they were bloated, rock stars, Michael thought it was their best album in years. Listening to cuts from the disc, I have to say I can’t be bothered to give a shit. REM were interesting and relevant in the 80s, and made some brilliant music with Out of Time and Automatic For the People. Ever since then, it’s been diminishing returns, Monster was their attempt to get on the grunge bandwagon a day late and a dollar short, and then they just veered into Adult Contemporary blandness. It’s rarely a good idea for a band to decide to rock out late in their career, but especially so when the band never really rocked to begin with. That’s exactly what Accelerate is: a bunch of middle aged dudes trying to rock out/ sound like U2. Some fans are gonna eat it up, and that’s fine. A lot of people like middle-of-the-road, boring rock: just look at Nickleback’s album sales. I am personally reminded of Sick Boy’s succinct appraisal of Lou Reed’s career in Trainspotting: “You think it’s alright, but it’s really just shite.” There is too much interesting, vital music out there for me to waste my time with late-period REM, or any other half-assed effort by musicians past their sell-by date who refuse to grow old gracefully.

That said, I need to remember to buy the last John Doe album: there’s one aging rocker who is still putting out interesting music 30 years into his career.

Joke Rap Is No Joke

Sudden Death
Fatal Error

Review here.

Me and my friends used to do joke raps when we were in jr. high. These guys have been doing joke raps since I was in jr. high. The difference is, me and my friends and I were 13, and we stopped. I have always hated joke bands and "funny" music, be it They Might Be Giants or Weird Al, or basically anything on Dr. Demento. The humor is always horribly corny, and I feel like when you make a song a joke, then it diminishes it's enjoyability. I want to hear a song a million times, but a joke, only once or twice. Even good funny music, like Spinal Tap or Monty Python, I just can't get with it.

This Sudden Death album was monumentally dorky, and painful to listen to. They seemed nice, so instead of given them a shitty review, I rated them on a joke score that is as corny as their music. Happy April Fool's.

PS. Corny is an awesome word, and more people should use it.

Spank Rock

I did a "Back to the Lab" review of Spank Rock's YoYoYoYoYo for Rapreviews this week. Here.

I love that album, and I'm not a fan of the whole dayglo-tight pants scene. I hear they are awesome live.

Superchunk are Superfly

I came late to the Superchunk party. I had heard about the Chapel Hill group, but dismissed them as just another slacker grunge band cranking out half-assed melodic punk and trying to cash in on Nirvana’s success. Finally, in 1998, I bought their 1991 CD “No Pocky For Kitty,” which remains a favorite. What I love about Superchunk is that they combine awesome hooks, the energy of punk, and lyrics that are both snotty and poetic. The album opener “Skip Steps 1 & 3” has the refrain “you’ve been sucking wind so long it makes you feel full,” while on “Seed Toss” they prove that even at their brattiest, they have a literary flair:

“you better memorize this face you better stay right in your place i draw the lines here from now on and your picture's already drawn and this movie goes on to long and this coffee's a little to strong and i think that i'm running on well i guess that i'm running”

While the band excels at blistering melodic punk, they could also slow it down a little, and two of my favorite tracks on “No Pocky” are the slow numbers. “Sidewalk” is an ode to a dead-end town, or a dead-end life, with lyrics like:

“Well you say you feel trapped Yeah I bought you a map And I think you'll find In any other sidewalk It's the same old cracks”

“Throwing Things” is a brilliant, haunting song about love, which has some beautiful, poetic imagery:

I'm blowing up the street like a leaf I skin my back a few times you'll see Head over heels, my hands on my heart I'm making a promise, and that's a start You're leaving a trail for me I see you up in the tallest tree (You're) throwing things down at me I'm starting to climb, well I'm starting on my knees Somewhere along the way Dusk it turns back into day The sky is orange The trees lie down against it”

Ah…It kills me every time. I’m starting to go through their discography, money and time permitting, and so far, four discs in, I haven’t gotten a stinker. They don’t have the angst of Nirvana, but they got those mad indie hooks and sad sack lyrics that make me melt.

Erykah Badu part two

My Erykah Badu review for Rapreviews

(complete with a few typos)

A blurb of my (very enthusiastic) review is on Metacritic

In my defense, i'm not the only reviewer who gave it a 9 out of 10, and I think it deserves it.

Red Ants

Red Ants
Omega Point
Urbnet, 2008

This is some evil sounding music. Like El-P minus the bothersome emotional complexity. The production is amazing, fusing industrial beats and hip hop into something that is dark and awesome. I'd almost give it repeated listens only it is so dark it kind of freaks me out.

http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2008_03_omegapoint.html

Michael Stipe Is Gay

For reals. He told Spin in an interview this month. Holy shit. They also reported that chocolate tastes good, and water is hydrating. You heard it here first.

I respect his right to have never publicly discussed his sexual orientation before, even if it was pretty obvious. However, it may have been helpful if he had come out in 89 or 90, at the height of REM's cultural relevance. He would have been a good role model for a lot of young queer kids, and a powerful cultural ally. Of course, that’s probably why he didn’t come out – who wants their private life to be part of a political battleground?

Their new album is supposed to be awesome, by the way.

90's Indie Rock Nostalgia

I traded in a bunch of stuff I’d reviewed yesterday and got three classic 90s indie albums.

Promise Ring “30 Degrees Everywhere” Jade Tree, 1996

I originally had this on vinyl, but picked the CD up for five bucks. I recently heard “Everywhere In Denver” on my Husker Du Pandora station (and Pandora is awesome, by the way). The Promise Ring were one of the first emo bands to really take the genre into it’s current wimpy and whiney manifestation. They were formed in the ashes of pretentious punk band Cap’n Jazz, and combined journal writing, design, passionate yet out of tune singing, and a lot of chord changes and unusual song structures to create indie pop that was poetic and bland as hell. Sample lyric: "If I put my hands to your stomach, or put my lips to your hand. Birmingham has gone to motors. Take me home, keep your eyes on the road [..] I’m convinced you’re from mars.” High school poetry run amok. I still love "Everywhere in Denver", but the rest of the album makes me kind of angry. Not worth the price of admission.

Sebadoh “Bubble and Scrape” Sub Pop, 1993

This is where Sebadoh stopped being a noise band and started writing sublime pop songs. My favorites are “Soul and Fire” and “Sister.” I originally had this as a cassette dub of my friend Jaime’s copy. This totally reminds me of Sacramento in the summer. Good times. Sebadoh’s next album after this, 1994’s "Bakesale", is one of my favorite album’s ever.

Superchunk “Foolish,” Merge, 1994

I never heard this until now. I got into Superchunk in the late 90s, after hearing fIREHOSE cover their song “Slack Motherfucker.” Their 1992 album “No Pocky for Kitty” is one of my favorite melodic indie/punk albums ever, right up there with Jawbreaker’s “24 Hour Revenge Therapy” and Sebadoh’s aforementioned “Bakesale.” “Foolish” is a breakup album, and as such is kind of a downer. I’m 5 songs into my first listen, and it’s not rocking my world. Maybe with repeated listens.

Emusic

I’m a big fan of Emusic. It is sort of an indie itunes, but on a subscription basis, and with no DRM. That means that you get actual MP3 files, not the bullshit Apple audio files that you can only put on so many computers. They also allow you to redownload whatever you paid for again for free, which makes it really easy to transition between your home and work computer. I pay $14.99 a month for 50 downloads, which works out to be about four albums. They have a somewhat limited selection, in that there isn’t any major label stuff, but they have a ton of indie music, and I’ve downloaded some classic, hard to find albums like the first Freestyle Fellowship record.

I use Emusic to download stuff I’m interested in, but not necessarily enough to spend fifteen bucks a CD on, like old soul, old hardcore, or the Wild Style soundtrack. I also use it to plug in the gaps in my hip hop heavy music diet, rounding it out with other forms of music. Most importantly, I use it to download stuff onto my girlfriend’s computer that we can both agree on, no small feat considering she hates punk, hip hop, and anything noisy and angry.

This months purchases were:

She & Him “Volume One”
Normally I don’t go for actors trying to be singers, but I dig She & Him, which is Zooey Deschenal and M Ward. She’s got a great voice, and it is a lot of fun. I was sold after hearing “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here” on KEPX’s Song of the Day podcast.

Neutral Milk Hotel “On Avery Island” If you don’t own Neutral Milk Hotel’s “The Aeroplane Over the Sea,” go buy it now. If you do own it, go buy “On Avery Island.” If you own both, go listen to them. I got turned on to these guys in 1997, and I immediately made all my friends listen to them. They combine folk, psychedelic rock, indie rock, and general awesomeness. So what if singer/songwriter Jeff Magnum hasn’t done anything since. He’s done enough with these two amazing records, and has contributed much more to the musical landscape than all the Nickleback albums combined.

New Buffalo “Somewhere, Anywhere” AKA iTunes commercial/Grey's Anatomy music. This is mellow female indie pop, and I dig it.

Bratmobile “Ladies, Women, and Girls” Their first album was too primitive to be enjoyable, but their amateurish singing and playing work perfectly on this 2001 (2002?) record. It’s bratty punk meets beach rock meets girl group fantasticness. I first heard “Gimme Brains” on a comp some years ago, and fell in love with it’s combination of sass and hooks. Nothing else quite matches the level of brilliance of that track, but a lot comes close.

Now to find time to listen to all of this!

Husker Du

(The first in what threatens to be a series on me reminiscing about bands from my youth, unless it's not).
One of the few band shirts that I still own is a Husker Du shirt. It features the cover of their Land Speed Record album. It is a black and white picture of soldiers accompanying the flag-clad coffins back of the first eight soldiers to die in Vietnam. I got it when I was fifteen through a catalogue I ordered from the back of a Rolling Stone. I was attracted to the jagged logo of the band, the harshness of the photo, and the fact that it seemed both a critique of the horrors of war, and in a weird way a tribute to my father, who was a Vietnam vet.

The album came out on SST in 1981, and is from a live show. It is 26 minutes of blistering hardcore punk. It took me about ten listens before I could discern things like melodies and song breaks. They did the songs one after another, Ramones style, and they blend into a deafening blur. There are tracks that deal with Stooges-esque teenage boredom and angst (“All Tensed Up,” “Don’t Try to Call,” “I’m Not Interested”), songs that deal with the violence and paranoia of the era (“Push the Button,” “Guns at My School,” “Data Control,”) and even some humor (their cover of Gilligan’s Island features the line “I wanna fuck Ginger under a tree”). In short, it’s fucking awesome.

Husker Du formed in Minneapolis in the late seventies, and were comprised of Bob Mould on vocals and guitar, Grant Hart on drums and guitar, and Greg Norton on bass and mustache. Mould and Hart shared songwriting duties, and typically didn’t collaborate – Hart sang the songs he wrote, and Mould sang his contributions. They had several heavy, melodic hardcore albums in the early 80s, before toning down their hardcore sound into something that became the archetype of grunge, and later, emo. They were one of the originators of the melodic punk, loud/quiet/loud sound perfected by the Pixies and Nirvana and capitalized on by thousands of imitators.

In 1984 they released Zen Arcade, a double album punk rock opera that told the story of a runaway who joins the hari krishnas. Fans were pissed that they were writing acoustic songs, but the album remains seminal and revered. It taught a lot of young punk and indie musicians to think big, and helped inspire other classic double albums like the Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime and Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation. Zen Arcade also contains one of my favorite Husker Du songs, the abrasive, chaotic “I Will Never Forget You,” an out of control rant at a former friend (or lover?).

Zen Arcade and its follow up New Day Rising got a lot of critical acclaim, and major label attention. Husker Du ended up signing to Warner Brothers and releasing Candy Apple Grey in 1986. This is my favorite album by the trio, and to me it sounds like a punk rock Beatles. It starts of with the harsh “Crystal,” in which Mould sings “Crystal glass lined up in a row/ Watched over by the GI Joes/ Sugar in your coffee doesn’t feel quite right/ Feeling the effects for a hundred thousand nights.” It also has the single “Don’t Want to Know If You Are Lonely,” the psychadelic pop of Eiffel Tower High”, and the deeply depressing “Too Far Down” and “Hardly Getting Over It.” It’s the perfect realization of their punk background and pop leanings, and I like it better than the meandering Zen Arcade.

By this time the band was at each other’s throats, and after recording 1987’s “Warehouse: Songs and Stories” they broke up. Warehouse is yet another double album, but this time the punk sheen was gone, replaced by pop songs that I never found very interesting.

Part of it has to do with Husker Du’s two biggest problems, in my eyes: for one, I don’t like the drum sound on their recordings. There is no bottom end, and instead it suffers from that eighties disease of sounding almost digital, but in a bad way. Second, while Mould and Hart wrote some great songs, they are a few steps from genius, and as a result they could also veer into Bad Rock territory (a constant failing of punk songwriters). I’ve been listening to parts of Zen Arcade this past week, and it doesn’t completely hold up. It’s one of those albums that you need to know the context of to truly appreciate. Incidently, I never liked Sugar, his post-husker side project, either, and I haven’t been blown away by the tracks from his new album that I’ve heard. Maybe I’m just not meant to be a Mould lifer. We had a moment 18 years ago, and should leave it at that. I still have the t-shirt.

Project Gampo

Prof
Project Gampo
Alamoyard/Beatchefs Productions
(I originally submitted this to RapReviews, but someone beat me to it. Annoying at times, but not bad That said, I'm still kind of pissed that I listened to it for two weeks straight for nothing. It ain't easy being a critic. Plus, the spinal tap reference is really clever).
Nigel Tufnel, guitarist for the faux heavy metal band Spinal Tap, explained in the film “This Is Spinal Tap” that their amps were specially designed to go to eleven. “You see,” he explained, “most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?…Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do? Eleven. Exactly. One louder.”

Like Spinal Tap, Prof is firmly set at eleven, one louder than your average rapper. Imagine if Ludacris were a white suburban kid from Minnesota, or if Lil Wayne were gakked up on uppers and red bull rather than syrup and weed. Prof takes the Southern art of the one-liner and injects it with a Northerner’s hyperactivity. Granted, neither Luda nor Weezy invented the one-liner or goofy non-sequitur, but they have perfected it, and there is no doubt that Prof owns a copy of “Word of Mouf” and has downloaded at least a few Wayne mixtapes. He even nails the potty humor. On “Run Game” he raps:

“I’m over your head like I was in a hot air balloon
Don’t worry or hurry it will be your time real soon
Buy them tickets, bitches, I’m the meanest
Swish!
I’m ahead of the game like I was the first pitch
[…]
I’m so hot, when I shit in a toilet
(Ploop) It drops and boils it”

Later, as if in answer to Lil Wayne’s “Ima fuck around and barf” line, Prof exclaims “I’ll freestyle vomit in your kitchen sink.” He also throws in cartoony exclamations like “WOW! RADICAL DUDE!” doing a kind of Eminem-meets-Robin Williams. The overall effect is like a double espresso with redbull back: exhilarating and a little overwhelming. Prof can be funny, but he can also start to feel like the guy at the party who talks a little too loud and laughs too much at jokes that aren’t that humorous. There were points were I felt like figuring out ways to get up and leave the room without seeming rude, and when I got to the obnoxious “I Dry Heave” I was ready to leave him lying in his own puke.

Prof’s over-the-top flow is matched by the equally ADD beats of Southern producers the Beatchefs. The beats feature samples from Austin Powers and sixties pop, sped-up soul, and frenetic scratching from DJ Fundamentalist. It’s all ON, all the time, cranked to eleven, and while it’s banging, it gets cacophonous. They do slow it down a notch on tracks like “City of Lakes” which features a freestyle over a human beatbox, and on “Rolling Stone,” a sleek and funky cruising anthem. “Ooh Baby” balances out Prof’s horndog rant of “Jump on my bed/and throw your back out/and break my mattress” with a gloriously slow beat.

Prof takes after Lil Wayne in another important way: he pretty much owns the mic. The boy might be a spazz, but he can rap, and when he’s not busy acting like an ass, he’s pretty damn good. He can also sing, and his does all of his own hooks. On “Down Dirty” he offers up a nice bluesy rap, making an explicit connection between hip hop and the blues. He even offers up a heartfelt tribute to his mother on “Mother,” admitting “I wonder if I can ever work as hard as a woman.” It is one of the more insightful and thoughtful songs a rapper has done about his mom.

He may be irritating, and he may copy some out of other rappers’ playbooks, but Prof brings an impressive amount of energy, humor, and skill to the mic. He’s found the ideal partners in the Beatchefs, and “Project Gampo” is definitely worth the price of admission. Hide your daughters, lock up your liquor, keep an eye on your medicine cabinet, and turn your stereo up to eleven, because Prof is one louder than your favorite rapper.

Lyric Vibes: 7 of 10 Music Vibes: 7.5 of 10 Total Vibes: 7.5 of 10

Solid Entity

Solid Entity
Born Sick
Silver Wax Records, 2007

My review is here.
Survey says meh.

New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)

Erykah Badu
New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)

I don't really listen to much contemporary R&B, but I was intrigued enough by Erykah Badu's new album to pick it up, mostly because it features production by Madlib, and also because Sound Opinions gave it rave reviews.

I like this album for two slightly contradictory reasons: it references classic soul and funk, and it embraces modern hip hop. I guess that's not really that contradictory, especially since she works with hip hop producers who are well-known for mining the crates and reworking dusty funk and jazz records. Madlib's work is understated and blunted out as usual, and both "The Healer/Hip Hop" and "My People" develop musical ideas/samples he unleashed on his first "Beat Konducta" album.

The funky breaks wouldn't be enough if the songwriting wasn't up to snuff, and it is. She's dealing with violence, war, poverty, and getting older. She is at turns down to earth and totally out there, playing up both her Billie Holiday comparisons and her more recent stoner witch manifestations. It is a trippy, challenging records, switching from the Funkadelic-like opening track to the neo-soul of "Soldier" to the freaky ""Cell." If I have one complaint, it is that it isn't always a smooth listen, and can be jarring at times. Just like most good art.

It's also sold a ton of copies, which is impressive. I'm always happy when good music is also popular.

She is supposed to release the follow up later this year, which is a little soon considering she released her last full album eight years ago. Whatever- as Lil' Wayne has shown, when you are on a creative tear, you just have to go with it.

NY's Finest

Pete Rock
NY's Finest
Nature Sounds, 2008

Review here.

Solid, if not mindblowing. Unfortunately, I just got a shitty review copy with no artwork, and an annoying voice saying "C'mon guys! This is just the beginning!" every thirty seconds. I hate when they do shit like that. So while I enjoyed listening to it, I'm not gonna blow fifteen bucks on my own copy.

Dream, Extinguished

I'm not going to repost my RapReviews reviews anymore, but instead link to their original posting. I want to direct as much traffic to the site, and I just realized that this site comes up pretty high on Google searches. So....

My review Daniel Swain's instrumental album Dream, Extinguished is here:
http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2008_02_dreamextinguished.html

Final verdict - it's interesting, worth checking out, and unreleased.