Shut Up, Dude, That's Racist

Das Racist
Shut Up, Dude
Self-Released (and free)


First published on RapReviews.com


Das Racist scored a surprise hit last summer with their hit "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell." The entire lyrics of the song were basically "I'm at the Pizza Hut/I'm at the Taco Bell/I'm at the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell." It was so dumb it was smart, sort of like Jackass or Forrest Gump. The duo is made up of Indian-American Himanshu Suri, and Cuban/African-American Victor Vasquez. They live in Brooklyn, and met at Wesleyan, one of the ten most expensive universities in the country, and the alma mater of indie psych stars MGMT.

They may act stupid, but they aren't stupid, and they have the student loans to prove it. Their influences include the Wu-Tang Clan, MF DOOM, dadaism, and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. In interviews, Himanshu name-drops literary critic/Columbia professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and claims that their music is protest music along the lines of 19th century African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Those are pretty big words from a purveyor of jokey, stoner hip hop that is just this side of Weird Al territory.

There are three reasons why Das Racist is more than just a joke: they have a much-needed perspective, being from two ethnic groups that are generally underrepresented in the cultural debate, they aren't preachy, and they have good beats. If Himanshu and Vasquez decided to merely regurgitate their college syllabi in hip hop verses, it would get old quick. Instead, they use humor to make their criticisms of racism and consumerism in America. Musically, they tap into Baltimore-style dance-oriented hip hop, minimalist electronica, and dabble a little in reggae. The beats are consistently good, from the stoney Middle Eastern vibes of "Ek Shaneesh" to the e'd up club music of "Chicken and Meat."

While I like "Shut Up, Dude," I sometimes found Das Racist's brand of snarky, sarcastic intellectualism dishonest and irritating. This is an attitude that is endemic to hipsters: too often they choose to trade only in sarcasm and irony, mocking other people without ever taking a stand themselves. (The worst example of this was Le Tigre, who made shitty dance music under the guise of subverting the dominant heterosexist paradigm.) The broad agenda that Das Racist lays out in interviews doesn't always match the goofy rhymes in their music. Their closest contemporaries are probably Lonely Island, composers of "Dick In A Box" and "I'm On A Boat."

Also, their non-sequitur flow has been done before and better by artists like Ghostface and MF DOOM. They boys even tackle Ghostface's "Nutmeg" and rap over DOOM's "America's Most Blunted," here called "Deep Ass Shit (You'll Get When You're High)." They don't come close to Ghostface's crazed storytelling or DOOM's blunted, biting humor, and both tracks merely highlight their shortcomings as MCs.

Das Racist have the potential to be something great, offering nuanced and cutting insights into racism in America, the Latino and Indian-American experience, and the state of hip hop. On tracks like "Shorty Said" they manage to be funny and insightful, commenting on how they get lumped in with anyone who is remotely brown, and offering up lines like "Shorty says I look like a gay David Banner on acid." They mix up pop culture references in a consistently funny series of one-liners, connecting sounds and words in a seemingly random way that can be both deep and hilarious.

"Skinny jean/fat wallets
Chakras from papa
I'm in Maracaibo
Vic is in Caracas
Cuban
Movin'
Eatin' a Cuban sandwich
I'm pukin'
Tryna write some rap songs in Sanskrit"


When they hit it right, Das Racist come off like Lil Wayne with an M.A. in Ethnic Studies, pumping up Wayne's trademark stream-of-consciousness flow with bigger ideas beyond getting laid, getting high, and getting money. When they flop, they sound like a couple of over-educated stoners fucking around on a Friday night. Either way, "Shut Up, Dude" is worth your time.

Junk Science Review

I reviewed Junk Science's new album A Miraculous Kind of Machine for RapReviews this week.
Left-of-center rap with some thoughtful lyrics and interesting beats. Here's a video for "Fire Drill," one of the better songs on the album:

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.

Joe Gibbs 12" Discomix Volumes 4 and 5

VP Records has just released volumes four and five of Joe Gibbs' 12" Reggae Disco mix Showcase. Like the first three volumes, released last November, these two CDs each contain eleven 12" singles originally released in the seventies, when producer Joe Gibbs was at the height of his powers. The tracks all clock in between six and seven minutes long, with the first half being the original version, which transitions to a deejay or dub version for the second half.

Having the original and deejay version back to back demonstrates how versatile and resourceful the Jamaican musicians were. They could take the same riddim and rework it into dozens and sometimes hundreds of different versions, each offering a different take on the backing track. The deejay versions give legs to good songs, and sharp-tongued toaster can redeem a weak song.

Volume 4 opens up with Junior Byles' "Dreadlooks Time," backed with Kojak and Liza's take, "Fist to Fist." It's a classic riddim, and one of the standout tracks of the compilation. Other highlights include Dennis Brown's sublime "Your Man," presented here with an extended dub version, and Wade Brammer's "My Love," backed with Lui Lepkie's "Can't Take My Landlord."

There are several covers, some of which aren't entirely successful. The reggae takes on Michael Jackson's "Shake Your Body Down to the Ground" and "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" pale in comparison to the originals. Covers of "I Can't Stand the Rain" and "Working My Way Back to You" are better, owing mostly to the deejay versions, in which Prince Weedy and Trinity offer different takes. The disc closes out with two songs full of heartache, "Why Girl/Did We Have to Part" and "After You/Love Me Forever."

Volume 5 has its share of love songs, but also has more roots subject matter. It starts off with Earth and Stone's "Ring Graft," here paired with Snuffy and Wally's superior version, "Dreader Mafia." This is followed by "Su Su Pon Rasta/Stop Su Su Pon the Dread," and "Burn Babylon/Don't Trouble Natty Dread." The dread theme continued on Sammy Dread's "Dreadlocks Girl," backed here by Tappa Zukie's "She Never Love Me So," which is a highlight of the set. Another highlight is Junior Murvin's "Time Stiff," which is complimented by Trinity's equally powerful "Time So Rough."

There is ample evidence on this set that the deejay was much more than someone who talked over records. Prince Mohammaed's "Give I Power" shows the true strength of the deejay. The original, case Carl Brown's "Let the Power Fall," is well-meaning but repetitive. Prince Mohammed expands on the theme of the original, fleshing it out and adding much-needed variety. Ruddy Thomas's "Being With You" is a pleasant but inconsequential take on the Smokey Robinson original, but Joe Tex and U-Black gives it an injection of adrenaline. Even in cases where the original version is strong, the deejay version offers a unique twist, like Delroy Jones frantic take on Home T. Four's "Playmate."

As with volumes 1-3, the deejay versions make the 12" Reggae Discomix Showcase Vol. 4 and 5 must-haves. Each disc provides over 70 minutes of smooth, soulful reggae, and having the 12" version of the song is the closest you are going to get to being in a sweaty Kingston dancehall in 1979.

This article was first published at Blogcritics.org.

Antlers/Phantogram Review

I saw the Antlers with Phantogram last Saturday. It sort of confirmed that I'm not a huge Antlers fan, although I thought they were good live. Chatty-ass crowd. I wrote a review of it at Blogcritics, here, In
what I hope will be a return to regular writing for that site and RapReviews.

Here's an NPR video of them playing live at the Black Cat in DC. 

El-Producto

I'm working a review of the new Junk Science album, who sound a little like El-P. Which made me search YouTube for El-P, and I came across this video for "Deep Space 9mm."

It's one of my favorite El-P songs, and the video is crazy, reflecting the paranoia of post-911 NYC.





Signed to Rawkus? I'd rather be mouth-fucked by Nazi's unconscious.

Death of Lala

It was announced yesterday that the music service Lala would be shutting down at the end of the month. Lala was bought by Apple in December 2009, and it's clear now that they bought them in order to shut down a potential competitor. Lala allowed you to purchase MP3s at less than Apple's price, and purchase streaming albums at ten cents a song.

I didn't care about that aspect of Lala. I was more interested in the way it allowed websites to embed players that allowed users to listen to songs and albums. Pitchfork used it to post the albums it reviewed, so that you could listen to it while you read the review. Lala didn't allow users to download songs to their computer, and you could only listen to a song in its entirety without buying it. After that, you'd get a thirty-second snippet, which is enough to get a sense of the song. I liked Lala because it allowed me to legally share music I was excited about with my friends, without screwing the artists. If someone was interested in the music, they'd have to purchase it. There are a lot of albums that I purchased based on listening to them on a Lala player posted on Pitchfork.

This is all coming to an end on May 31st. Now I will have to research another platform to stream songs, which is a pain. This all goes to prove that despite the great products they produce, Apple really are bastards, just like most businesses. Steinbeck had a quote in one of his novels to the effect that the qualities that make you a good businessman don't make you a good human being.

Brawdcast Review

I reviewed Brawdcast's 'The Search for Human Perfection" for RapReviews this week. Wasn't feeling it.

Here's him performing a track live.

Ms. Tila

I'm on a lot of random pr mailing lists. I get emails from the Beastie Boys, from several indie labels, and from a lot of aspiring hip hop artists. Lately, I've been getting emails from Tila Tequila's (sorry, Ms. Tila) pr people. Like this beauty, that came today:

**PHOTOGRAPHERS, JOURNALISTS, & CREWS**


WHAT: MISS TILA'S CELEBRITY BLOG LAUNCH PARTY – www.TilaTequilaOMG.com


WHEN: Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 – 11pm


WHERE: Greenhouse - 150 Varick St
(between Spring St & Vandam St)


Press Contact:  Fallon Ullman / fallon@bigmachinemedia.com / Office # 646-395-2600 - Cell # 484-433-1126


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


MISS TILA’S (FORMERLY KNOWN AS TILA TEQUILA) FIRST SINGLE “I LOVE MY DJ” RELEASES APRIL 13th
EP Releases May 11th


[New York, NY – April 12th, 2010] – MISS TILA (formerly known as Tila Tequila) is set to invade the speakers of the international music scene with her single, “I Love My DJ”, on April 13th.  Her highly anticipated EP, WELCOME TO THE DARKSIDE, distributed by her own record label, Tila Tequila Records, through INgrooves will be released on May 11th.  Fan’s can log on to Myspace Music (http://www.myspace.com/music) on Friday, April 9th to hear the premiere stream of “I Love My DJ”.
MISS TILA has paved her way to be a musical force to be reckoned with as she garnered millions of fans from her internet superstardom to her reality television success.  MISS TILA will be further conquering the internet with the creation of her highly anticipated celebrity gossip blog, www.TilaTequilaOMG.com, to which MISS TILA says, “This celebrity gossip blog is PEREZ HILTON’S #1 Competition right now.  My blog will blow his out of the water because there’s a NEW QUEEN in town and her name is MISS TILA…bye bye Perez! Who?”.
 An official launch party for www.TilaTequilaOMG.com will be held in New York City on Wednesday, April 14th at GREENHOUSE (150 Varick Street, NY NY 10013).
MISS TILA will be making her promotion rounds in New York City from April 11th-18th.  If you are interested in speaking with MISS TILA during this time please reach out to press contacts below.


For more information, visit Tila’s official website at www.TilasHotSpot.com and official Myspace at myspace.com/misstila.

I actually logged on to her myspace page to here her song. Obviously it's terrible, the kind of amateurish thing you might do if you were drunk and had recording equipment. Her song is called "I Love My DJ," but the dirty version is called "I Fucked My DJ."

Fucken' Tila.

It comes complete with this slutty photo of her. As they say, I wouldn't touch her with yours. The creepiest thing about Ms. Tila? This little item from her Wikipedia page:

On December 20, 2009, Tequila announced she was currently having a surrogate pregnancy for her brother.

EWWWWWWWWWW

Mayer Hawthorne Left His Heart in San Francisco

I always sucked at skating, but I think it looks damn cool.

Truthlive Review

I reviewed Truthlive's Patience for RapReviews this week. He's a Santa Rosa-based rapper, and owner of the excellent indie label Interdependent Media. Beats are entirely handled by Jake One. I'm more impressed by Truthlive's skills as head of Interdpendent then his skills as an MC, but he holds his own. You can sample his wares on the free Unlearning ep.

Marco Polo and Ruste Juxx Review

My review of Marco Polo and Ruste Juxx's The Exxecution is the featured review at RapReviews this week. It's thirteen tracks of hard-hitting East Coast hip hop. I enjoyed it.

The eXXecution - Marco Polo, R...

Songs I Unsuccessfully Lobbied For For My Wedding

Here are some of the songs that got shot down by my bride to be as potential wedding songs.
#1 - Pogues "Dirty Old Town."

Her comment - depressing. She has a point.

#2: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes "Home"


Her comment - Too epic and cinematic. True.

#3. Devendra Banhart "This Is the Way"


Her point - too freaky. Yeah, there is that. I just love the line "We chose rejoice."

#4 The Kinks  "Waterloo Sunset"

Her comment - again, too depressing. It's about a shut-in.

#5 Bad Brains "Pay To Cum"


Her comment - Come on! Admittedly, by this point I was just fucking with her.

I shot down some of her ideas, too, so we're even.

Das Racist - Shut Up, Dude

Jokey hip hop trio Das Racist ("Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell") have just released a mixtape. Which you can download here.

It's sort of like Spank Rock meets Lonely Island.



Speaking of, here's a video for Lonely Island's brilliant "Like A Boss."

Polvo-17 Years too Late

I don't know why it took me 17 years to buy a copy of Polvo's 1993 debut Music for Active Lifestyles. It's just the kind of angular, jagged, melodic post-punk that I loved at that age, and still do. Echos of Sonic Youth and Unwound. Makes me want to be 20 again. Well, 21, so I could go to shows.

Today's Active Lifestyles - Po...

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.

Kaigen21Meiso Review

I reviewed the new Kaigen21Meiso release, Root Is the New Leaf, for RapReviews this week. It's avant hip hop in Japanese. It gave me a migraine, but I'm not a fan of experimental hip hop. This dude liked it. You can listen for yourself here.

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:

Z-Man Review

I reviewed Z-Man's Show Up, Shut Up, and Rap EP for RapReviews two weeks ago.

You can listen to it and download it for free at Machete Vox's site, here. And you should, because it rules.

Byron Lee and the Dragonaires Revew

Originally posted on Blogcritics.org
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
The Man and His Music
VP Records

Byron Lee holds a conflicted place in Jamaican music history. On one hand, he and his band, the Dragonaires, are credited with bringing ska to the outside world. As the backing band at the 1964 New York World's Fair, Lee and his band were most Americans' and Europeans' first introduction the the infectious sounds coming from Jamaica. On the other hand, Lee's contemporaries in the reggae and ska scene looked down upon him as being too uptown and posh, disconnected from the dance hall culture that was the focal point of Jamaican music. In some ways Lee is a Pat Boone figure, someone who brought an underground music form to a larger audience, but is criticized with sanitizing it in the process.
The new two-disc set, The Man and His Music, is a powerful defense of Byron Lee's musical legacy. True, Byron Lee's ska isn't as raw or earthy as the music produced by people like Desmond Dekker, Prince Buster, or the Skatalites. However, the uptown gloss that earned him scorn by his contemporaries has aged well. There is a breezy tropicalia feel to Lee's early work. The Dragonaires, while polished, were also talented musicians, and they captured the energy and excitement that makes early ska so timeless. Uptown or no, songs like "Soul Ska" and "Holly Holy" deserve a place among the canon of classic ska tracks.
Ska was only one of Byron Lee's many phases, however. He also experimented with rocksteady, and once he realized that the ska crowd weren't too accepting of him, he began to play calypso. That phase is represented in this collection by songs like "Sandra" and "No Love No Money," both performed by The Mighty Sparrow. Lee dabbled in lounge music, offering island-tinged versions of country western and easy listening songs like "Only A Fool" and "Empty Chair." He also did some convincing reggae, as evidenced by "Sunday Coming" and "Thinking of You." Toots Hibbert turns up to do a version of "54/46 That's My Number" that proves that Byron Lee and his band could do more than passable roots reggae.
In the eighties the band changed directions yet again, this time playing soca, a dancier version of calypso. All of the album covers from this period feature half naked women on tropical beaches. This soca phase is heavily represented here with songs like "Dancehall Soca," "Soca Butterfly," and "Blackman Come Out To Party." The soca phase also reflects a change in production quality and instrumentation.
While his work from the sixties and seventies sounds warm if primitive, the soca music has the precise, coldly digital sound typical of eighties production. Digital instruments begin to replace analog ones, and the drummer is augmented or replaced with a drum machine. Lee had some of his biggest hits in his soca phase, but I found the songs less engaging than his earlier work, and I could have lived with one or two instead of seven or eight. His later easy listening songs would have been better left off the album altogether, and do nothing to support his musical legacy.
This two-disc, forty-eight song set collects the previously released "Essential Byron Lee along with a second disc. The discs aren't arranged chronologically, which would have been helpful for an artist whose career spanned so many decades. Instead, there are sometimes jarring contrasts of musical styles and production quality. Ska songs from the early sixties are sequenced next to glossy soca numbers from the eighties, which are followed by seventies reggae, which in turn are followed by easy listening from the nineties. It doesn't make for the smoothest listening experience. Even with the dubious sequencing, The Man and His Music is a comprehensive introduction to an artist who never quite got the respect he deserved, and a worthwhile listen for any fan of Jamaican ska.

Count Bass D and DJ Pocket Review

I reviewed Count Bass D and DJ Pocket's In the Loop for RapReviews this week.

Count Bass D is an underground rapper/producer who has been around for about ten years. DJ pocket is his friend and collaborator. It reminded me of DOOM's work: hip hop beats over cheesy 80s R&B. Not brilliant, but good. Here's the video for "New Day."

Mann/Dillon Review

I reviewed Mann's album Hated for Rapreviews this week. Detroit street rap. Not really my thing, but I thought he was good at what he does. Hey look, strippers!





I also reviewed Dillon's Cupid's Revenge EP. It was a free download, so you should check it out.

Here it is, reenacted with a blow up doll.

Alborosie Review

Originally published on Blogcritics.org

lborosie, aka Alberto D'Ascola, is a Sicilian-born reggae artist. He started performing reggae in the early nineties with the Reggae National Tickets, and has relocated to Kingston, Jamaica to be closer to the music and the home of rastafari culture. He released his debut solo album, Soul Pirate, in 2008, and a different version of this album,Escape from Babylon in 2009 via 101 Distribution. This version, with a longer title and slightly different tracklist, is being released via the venerated reggae label Greensleeves.

The idea of a Sicilian rasta isn't as big a stretch as it might initially seem. The most convincing Italian hip hop artists are from the South, so it makes sense that the South would produce convincing reggae artists as well. Sicilian is it's own language, only partially related to Italian, so learning a patois of English wouldn't have been hard for Alborosie, who grew up knowing two languages, and knowing the power that the unofficial language holds. Like Jamaica, Sicily is a relatively poor island, looked down upon by the mainland. Both islands are full of gangsters, both have strong cultural traditions, and both places understand what it is to struggle to survive.

Alborosie is also the real deal in every respect. He's a rastafarian, he sings in unaccented Jamaican patois, and he understands the music and the culture. He's also a talented musician, playing many of the instruments on the album. He combines the musicality of roots reggae with the harder electronic edge of dancehall, and his voice switches between the bark of a dancehall toaster and the soulful singing of a roots artist. Songs like "Humbleness" and "Dung A Babylon" show off his gentler side, while "Blue Movie Boo" pulses with a frenetic rhythm.

He makes his connection to roots reggae explicit by sampling Horace Andy on "Money" and "No Cocaine," and in his lyrics, which are steeped in rastafari philosophy. He sings about rastafari concerns such as praising the herb ("No Cocaine), criticizing materialism ("Money"), and criticizing Babylon. At times it feels like Rasta 101, and most of this is turf that has been covered many times before by countless reggae artists. Even the title is generic rasta. That's not to say that it's not authentic or heartfelt, but it doesn't break much new ground, and feels cliche at times. One exception is "America," a different take on Babylon that calls out America for it's infractions against the world.

Escape from Babylon to the Kingdom of Zion may not have the most original lyrical content, but it is solid musically. Alborosie manages to stay true to classic reggae while incorporating modern elements. The result is 18 songs that have the soul and melody of roots reggae with the harder edge of dancehall, proving reggae's place in the 21st century.

Die Antwoord

Die Antwoord are a South African rave/hip hop group. They are MC Ninja, who has many dodgy tattoos and talks like a tweaked out, gangsta spud from Trainspotting, and Yo-Landi, who looks like a hot alien from a post apocalyptic future. Kind of like tweaker hip hop.  Their album is streaming at their website. I can't tell if it's brilliant or godawful, but I'm intrigued at least. They have a video for "The Ninja," but I prefer "ZefSide". High possibility it's all a joke. The production values are too high and they are too over-the-top for them to be the rednecks they claim to be. Maybe a joke, but a funny one.

Gil Scott-Heron: I'm New Here

I reviewed the new Gil Scott-Heron Album, I'm New Here, for RapReviews this week. I've been a fan of Scott-Heron for years, and this is a damn fine return, sixteen years after 1994's Spirits. It reminded me of Tom Wait's raspy blues.

Here's a video for "Me and The Devil," a reworking of the Robert Johnson classic:




The album is also full of spoken-word pieces, like this one:

Archie Bronson Outfit Review

(Originally posted on Blogcritics.org)
Archie Bronson Outfit
Coconut
Domino Records

Coconut is the third album from British garage rock trio the Archie Bronson Outfit. It comes four years after their last album, the well-reviewed Derdang, Derdang, and six years after their debut, Fur.
The Archie Bronson Outfit mix the stripped-down blues and garage rock of bands like the White Stripes and the Kills with the twitchy angularity of post-punk bands like Wire and Gang of Four. Singer/guitarist Sam Windett sings with shaky uncertainty, sounding like he's had too much disappointment, too much heartache, and too much coffee. He's backed by the propulsive rhythm section of Dorian Hobday on bass and guitar, and Mark Cleveland on drums. Their sound is kinetic, paranoid, and slightly out of control. It's a formula that can be very engaging, but can also wear out its welcome.
They address this problem by bringing in former DFA member Tim Goldsworthy to produce. As part of DFA, Goldsworthy was responsible for the post-punk disco sounds of the Rapture and LCD Soundsystem, as well as the nouveau disco of Hercules & the Love Affair. He forces the Archie Bronson Outfit to reign in their garage rock and dabble in dance punk.
While opening track "Magnetic Warrior" is standard ABO, "Shark Tooth" adds disco drum and bass to the discordant guitar, and layers Windett's voice in reverb. "Hoola" goes even further down the dance road, offering a four-on-the-floor beat, and toning down the guitar noise. "Chunk" works a mellow groove, sounding a little like the Talking Heads in one of their funkier moods.

Lest any longtime ABO fans think the boys are going soft, they offer some raging garage punk on songs like "Wild Strawberries" and the cacophonous "You Have a Right to a Mountain Life/One Up On Yourself."
The album ends with the melodic, jangly "Run Gospel Singer," which could almost be a sweet song if it wasn't surrounded by so many creepy effects. Windett sounds like he's singing from the grave, and the band sound like they are accompanying him from the underworld. There is a similar effect to the psychedelic "Bite It and Believe," in which Windett seems to be singing from the bathroom outside of the studio.
Coconut sees the Archie Bronson Outfit expanding their sound pallet, getting out of their comfort zone, and growing as artists. Tim Goldsworthy helps the band beef up their sound without losing their identity, adding grooves without losing the anxiety and nervousness that make the band tick. The end result is an album that should please fans of the Archie Bronson Outfit as well as LCD Soundsystem fans impatient for James Murphy to finish the follow up to Sound of Silver.


Archie Bronson Outfit - Shark's Tooth on MUZU

Bekay and Green Lantern Reviews

I did two reviews for RapReviews this week. First up is a the Hunger Pains Remix EP from Brooklyn rapper Bekay

Here's a video with original versions of both songs on the album.



Also reviewed DJ Green Lantern's Myspace Invasion 6 mixtape.  Meh, although the Lx Traq song was pretty awesome. What does Lx Traq even mean?

Chosen Few Review

I reviewed Chosen Few's New World Symphony on RapReviews last week. They are a conscious crew from the Bay Area on the Hieroglyphics label.

They have a site at Wearechosenfew.com where you can stream some of their songs.

Worth a listen.

Toro Y Moi Review

Toro Y Moi
Causers of This
Carpark Records

(Originally posted on Blogcritics)
Toro Y Moi is the alter ego of 23-year-old Chaz Bundick, who hails from Columbia, South Carolina. Causers of This is his debut album, although Toro Y Moi has existed as a bedroom project for ten years. It's chillwave in the vein of Neon Indian, and on paper at least both Bundick and Neon Indian's Adam Palomo have a lot in common. They both live in the South, they both have backgrounds in arts (Paloma studies film and Bundick studied graphic design), they are both influenced by 80s music and yet are too young to remember that decade, and they both embrace their retro/dated influences lovingly and without much irony.

Toro Y Moi offers a softer edge to Neon Indian's jagged drugginess. The music is a conglomeration of 80s R&B and new wave, 90s shoegaze, and a little Y2k hip hop. There is a sterile funkiness to Toro Y Moi that brings to mind the shoulder pads, Jheri curls, and drum machines of bands like the Time and Ready for Sheila, along with the angular hairdos and faux androgyny of the Human League and Flock of Seagulls. "Blessa," the first single, combines synth washes with a slinky keyboard groove as Bundick pines in the background "it's hard to let you in/it lets you know that I was hurt." "Minors" is dreamy synth-pop, like a computerized Slowdive. "Imprint After" is built around electric piano and Bundick's reaching falsetto.

"Lissoms" combines analog keyboards with a glitchy beat. "Fax Shadow" "Freak Love" and "Thanks Vision" go further in the glitchy direction, and lay bare Bundick's love of J Dilla. He chops up elements in the songs in the same way that Dilla chopped up samples on Donuts. "Low Shoulders" references the sounds of 80s, but gives them a healthy infusion of contemporary keyboard effects. It's all performed with sincerity, and you never get the feeling that Bundick is trading on cheap irony. As with Neon Indian, the dated sounds are tools and not punchlines.

Bundick's voice is fine when it's buried in the mix or manipulated with effects, but it's not strong enough to stand on its own, as it does on "Low Shoulders and "Causers of This." Listeners will find his voice either endearingly honest or amateurish. Either way it's not a dealbreaker, but it made me realize that there was probably a reason why Kevin Shields' voice was buried so deep on all of My Bloody Valentine's songs. Also, like My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, or the Cocteau Twins' music, Causers of This is more a collection of sounds and moods than actual songs. There is an ethereal quality the music that makes easy to enjoy but difficult to grasp. After multiple listens the songs began to bleed together, becoming one continuous blur rather than eleven distinct tracks.

Causers of This melds its diverse influences into a concoction that is dreamy, filled with longing, and balances the nostalgic sounds of analog synthesizers with ideas borrowed from contemporary electronic music and instrumental hip hop. It is also further proof that there just might be legs to this whole chillwave thing. At the very least Toro Y Moi are worth listening to, and make an enjoyable soundtrack to a lazy Sunday morning.
(Photo by Bryan Bush)

"Blessa"

What I'm Listening To

I'm listening to a lot of stuff right now, including....

The new Beach House album, which is as good as everyone says it is.

Teen Dream - Beach House

The new Fucked Up album, a nice two-disc compilation of their singles.

Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-20...

Toro y Moi's album, which I'm reviewing this week.

Causers Of This - Toro Y Moi

Ornette Coleman's 1959 avant-garde jazz masterpiece, Shape of Jazz to Come. My fiance fuckin' hates this, which means it's pretty awesome and noisy.

The Shape Of Jazz To Come - Or...

Wu vs. Beatles and King Tubby

I discovered two Wu remix projects last week. The first is the Wu Vs. the Beatles, in which the Clan's vocals are put over beats made from Beatles songs. It can be downloaded for free from Tea Sea Records. It's pretty good, although it's more rejiggering Beatles samples over beats rather than working a break from a Beatles song. I love the drum sound Ringo gets in songs like "Rain" or "Tax Man," and I wish someone would work those fat drums into a hip hop context.

I also stumbled upon King Tubby Vs. Wu-Tang: Macro Dubplates Vol. 1 at Radio Retaliation. This is Chris Macro's reworking of Wu-Tang rhymes over King Tubby dub songs. It doesn't always work, but when it does it's pretty awesome.

Here's the Wu's "C.R.E.A.M." over Tubby's dub of Horace Andy's "Money Money"


Recommended.

Swift V Gaga

At the gym I go to, they are constantly playing Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me" and Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." Both are young female singers who write their own music and are selling a gajillion copies. Gaga is slated to be the new Madonna, and Swift is the new, what, Faith Hill meets Kelly Clarkson meets Miley Cyrus? I want to like Lady Gaga more, because she has such a unique look going for her. The problem is that her music is essentially shitty Euro club music, the same crap that dudes with gelled hair and tight shirts have been rocking out to since Eiffel 65.

Swift on the other hand has this whole other schtick going for her. She's supposed to be the girl next door, and "You Belong to Me" is all about how a guy at high school doesn't realize how great she is, because she's a nerdy girl next door. "She's in the cheer squad and I'm on the bleachers," she pines. The problem with that is, have you seen Taylor Swift? She's not a girl next door, unless you live next door to a gorgeous alien.

I actually kind of like "You Belong To Me." Well, like is a strong word, but it's not god-awful. It's sweet, highly polished country pop. From a beautiful alien. Word.

Analyrical and DJ Signify Reviews

I reviewed Analyrical's First Date on RapReviews this week. He's a MN rapper who is backed by good production.

I also reviewed DJ Signify's Of Cities. Moody, cinematic instrumental hip hop, a little DJ Shadow, a little Kraftwerk, with some Aesop Rock for good measure. Recommended.

Of Cities - DJ Signify

Leif Vollebekk Review

My review of Leif Vollebekk's Inland is up at Blogcritics.org now.

He's a Canadian singer/songwriter who does quirky folk ala Devendra Banhart.
Here he is playing "Don't Go Back to Klaksvik" live whilst a crowd talks over him. Nice to know that Canadian audiences are as noisy and disrespectful as Californian ones.

Aziz Ansari Review

I reviewed Aziz Ansari's new standup DVD for Blogcritics this week.
He's fucking hilarious. Here's one of the best moments from the video:

Aziz Ansari – Craigslist Ad from Aziz Ansari

Shabazz Palaces Review

 Originally posted on RapReviews.com
 Shabazz Palaces, "Shabazz Palaces," Self-Released (www.shabazzpalaces.com)
Reviewed by Patrick Taylor

Shabazz Palaces is the new group of Seattle-based rapper Ishmael Butler, better known in the hip hop world as Butterfly from Digable Planets. The whole project is shrouded in mystery, and until recently Butler was trying to stay anonymous. Shabazz Palaces has been germinating for a few years, but they really made a splash last year with two untitled EPS, both of which featured removable patches with Islamic art.  They played their first live show at Neumos in Seattle on January 8, 2010, which is how I found out about them. I got an email from a friend who was at the show and it said simply, "I think the Seattle hip hop is about to blow up. I went to see Shabazz Palaces on Friday night and had my mind blown."

She sent me a link to a review in The Stranger that had some live video. The sound quality isn't great, but there Butler is, in full turban with sunglasses, rocking the mic while simultaneously handling the boards. It looked promising enough, so I went on their website, to see what they had to offer. They're selling both EPS, but charging ten bucks for a download and fifteen bucks for a hard copy. That includes a patch, sure, but charging ten or fifteen dollars for eight songs was more than I was looking to pay, and out of synch with current music pricing structures. Luckily, it was only seven credits on Emusic, so my cheap ass was able to download it without having to fork over what at the time seemed like an unreasonable amount of money for a group I'd never heard.

I put it on in the background and half-listened to it while I was doing something else. It sounded pretty unimpressive to me. Sparse, electro beats over gangsta/bohemian rapping. THIS is what Seattle's getting so excited about? However, I know my friend, and she has excellent taste in music, so I decided to give Shabazz Palaces another try. This time I really listened to it, with headphones and without distractions. It didn't take long for me to understand what all the hype is about.

It opens with "Kill White T..." a pun on both "crisp white t's" and "kill Whitey." The song has a snapping beat, some rattling percussion, and some electronic sound effects. And that's it. It's as stripped down as you can get without going a cappella. I recognize Butler's voice from his Digable Planets days, but he ain't spitting no jazz rap here.

"You hate bitches but you love money
And if you ain't convinced then I can go get my gun and...
I'm on the train where all my folks in
Where the niggas hate love and pray for sin
And if you want satisfaction be a star and spin
And all the babies in the street putting it all in the action
It's midknife's sharp like the clothes on a pimp
You gotta kick it like it don't make sense
I'm on that high where all my folks fly
Where the crowd will make you sky
You just get rich or die"

Before I continue, let me state for the record that Digable Planets were a much better and deeper crew than they get credit for. Their sophomore album "The Blowout Comb" is much funkier and angrier than their debut, which is a stellar album in its own right. They were good rappers, good producers, and it isn't their fault that they got lumped into the stillborn jazz rap movement. They weren't as visceral as the Wu-Tang Clan, and they didn't capture the zeitgeist like the Notorious B.I.G. did, but they deserve credit for their contributions to hip hop. So Ishmael's bona fides are in check, and the fact that he has returned to rap with such amazing project is a gift to hip hop fans. He's not playing a young man's game, he's showing the younger generation how it should be done.

From what I can gather from articles written about the group, production credit goes to local Seattle indie musician Erik Blood, who handled beats, synths, and percussion. Almost all of the songs follow the sonic template of "Kill White T...": electronic drums, a few synth flourishes, and little else. It brings to mind the Clipse's "Hell Hath No Fury" without the crack rap. The music is often deceptively simple. At first listen, it sounds like a lot of other street rap. When you really listen, however, you realize that there is much more to it.  Take "Blastit," which features an African thumb piano over hard-hitting 808s. It's perhaps the best idea of the concept that Butler is going for: music that is unique, immediate, spontaneous, and contains African influences along with it's American roots.

Lyrically, Butler message is equal parts revolutionary, black nationalist, street, and bohemian. He comes off like Kool Keith on a pan-African trip. Anyone familiar with his bohemian jazz cat persona will be surprised by the sharp edges here. While a lot of the excitement around Shabazz Palaces is about the beats, most of the hype around the project revolves around the lyrics. Shabazz Palaces manages to have the hard edge of street rap without the mindless thuggery and materialism, and the righteous anger of conscious hip hop without the self-righteousness. It's unpredictable, it's dangerous, and it's done really well.

The group is looking to put out an album this fall, and is talking to labels and distributors. As much as Seattleites must love having their own little secret band, Shabazz Palaces have far too much potential to be wasted as a cult act. I'm ordering both albums at fifteen bucks a pop, and it feels like a bargain. This is some of the most refreshing hip hop I've heard in a while, and I can't wait to see them live. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Shabazz Palaces, the next big thing of 2010.

Music Vibes: 8.5 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 8.5 of 10 Total Vibes: 8.5 of 10

Shabazz Palaces - Shabazz Pala...

Blockhead Review

I reviewed Blockhead's The Music Scene this week for RapReviews. Nice, downtempo instrumental hip hop. He's also got a blog that I quite enjoy.

The Music Scene - Blockhead

The Harder They Come

My review of The Harder They Come soundtrack is up at RapReviews now. One of the best reggae albums of all time. Go buy it, yo.

My Ipod Is Full of Reggae

I've gotten into reggae in a big way in the past few months. I've always loved ska, reggae's spunky ancestor, but I found reggae to be too boring and happy. Part of that is growing up surrounded by white rastas claiming that jah is really important to them, and using reggae as a way to justify being a stoner. Then as I got older, this negative stereotype was replaced by the image of a fratboy with a backwards baseball hat chilling to Bob Marley while chugging Natty light and slipping roofies to coeds.

I've finally been able to appreciate reggae on its own terms, largely because of it's connection to hip hop and American soul music. Ska developed as a Jamaican answer to American R&B, and reggae has many of the same elements that makes soul music so amazing: lush production, great singers, and lyrics that deal with the downtrodden fighting against the system.

I started with Lee Perry, and started exploring music that he produced. One of those albums is Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves. I love the Clash's version, but Murvin's is even better.

Police & Thieves - Junior Murv...

Once I was digging on Murvin's falsetto, I decided to give Horace Andy a chance. I had heard Andy on some of Massive Attack's songs, and at the time I couldn't get into his wavering, high voice. I got his greatest hits, and I'm loving it. Here's an obligatory song about smoking pot:

Collie Weed - Horace Andy

I got a compilation with producer Joe Gibb's work, and it included "See Them Come" by Culture, off of their 1977 album Two Sevens Clash.

See Them A Come - Culture

As I got deeper and deeper into reggae, I was amazed by how much of it I was introduced to by the Clash. They did a lot of reggae songs, but also covered a lot of reggae. One of my favorite songs by them was "Armagideon Time," which ends up being a Willie Williams song:

Armagideon Time - Willie Willi...

"Ghetto Defendant," off of the Clash's Combat Rock, is a prime example of their own take on reggae. The voice you hear is Alan Ginsberg. There's a line in there that goes "Slam dance cosmopolous." Evidently, when they were in the recording studio, he asked singer Joe Strummer what kind of punk dances there were. Joe answered, "well, you've got your slam dance..." and it made it into the track.

Ghetto Defendant - The Clash

Finally, one of my favorite reggae songs ever, and the first reggae song I remember hearing. It's "007 (Shanty Town)" by Desmond Dekker, and is really more rocksteady than reggae. A friend of mine made me a cassette of the English Beat in 1987, and included a version fo this by a female singer on it. I've never been able to figure out who it was. 

007 (Shanty Town) - Desmond De...

Mukaizake Review

(Originally posted on Blogcritics.com)

The 2000s are being called the decade of indie rock, but the type of music I associate with the term had its peak in the late '90s. That's when bands like Braid, Built to Spill, and Modest Mouse were marrying the angular guitar chords and odd song structures of post-punk with strong melodies. The best indie rock sounded experimental and exciting while still being accessible and interesting. Perth band Mukaizake nail this winning formula on their sophomore EP, Unknown Knowns.

They start off with the propulsive single "Yeah Conditioner," which balances their math-rock leanings and jagged guitars with singer Geoffrey Symons' yearning vocals. "Rule Norse" features a less arithmetically inclined song structure. "Frisbee," with its gentle beauty and absurd/obtuse lines like "there's a parachute inside your soul" recalls The Promise Ring, while "My Friend Flicker" has an Americana feel to it. The EP ends with the ballad "Slack Bees," a perfect indie rock makeout song if ever there was one.

As with many indie bands, the lyrics are deliberately obscure and ambiguous. The meaning of the songs is conveyed in the way Symons sings them and the snippets you can make out. Put on paper, the lyrics probably wouldn't be too impressive, but they work in the songs. More impressive is the tension in all of the tracks between melody and dissonance. Melody always wins, but Mukaizake does an excellent job of adding jagged edges to their songs.

Mukaizake's '90s influence may be due in part to the fact that the band was formed in 1999. That certainly puts them in the age bracket that guarantees that at least some of the Jade Tree Records catalog has ended up in their collections. They put out their debut record, Mapping the Static, in 2003, and waited six years to put out Unknown Knowns. That averages out to a song a year, which doesn't bode well for a prolific future from the band. The upside is that all six songs on the EP are keepers, with no toss-offs or duds. Unknown Knowns hearkens back to a time when indie rock was discovered by buying seven-inches, not downloading MP3s. It is a prime example of indie rock done right, and I can only hope that the band is working on a full-length.

Unknown Knowns - Mukaizake