When Rich White People Imitate Poor People of Color

I want to chime in real quick about the reaction to Miley Cyrus's twerking on the VMAs. I've read a few articles written by black women about their reaction to Miley, and the general tone is: Fuck Miley and her cultural appropriation bullshit. People are pissed that she is using blackness to be cool, using black people as props, and

As Jacqui Germain wrote on Racialicious, "expressing your sexuality at my expense isn’t okay. You don’t get to claim sexual freedom while simultaneously perpetuating the oppression of another body. When you feel the need to express your sexuality by turning my body into an accessory, the black feminist in me—two identities which I refuse to separate—can’t have your back anymore."

On Jezebel, Dodai Stewart wrote "Miley and her ilk need to be reminded that the stuff they think is cool, the accoutrements they're borrowing, have been birthed in an environment where people are underprivileged, undereducated, oppressed, underrepresented, disenfranchised, systemically discriminated against and struggling in a system set up to insure that they fail."http://www.racialicious.com/2013/08/28/miley-cyrus-feminism-and-the-struggle-for-black-recognition/

(Rush Limbaugh said that the media wouldn't have cared had she twerked on a woman, since evidently the media hates heterosexual sex but loves teh gays. "Obama might have called Miley to praise her for her heroism had she twerked with another woman" he opined, ignoring the fact that she was being sexual with women in the act as well as Robin Thicke. Also, fuck Rush Limbaugh).

First off, let me say that the opinions of actual women of color about Miley's co-opting of black culture and how it makes them feel should be weighed much more heavily than my opinion. But there was something about those responses that rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe they sounded too much like the pearl-clutching outrage of an old white person: "Well, I NEVER!" Maybe it's that they were defending twerking as if it were some sort of high art that Miley was sullying, when it's more like the cultural equivalent of two sorority girls making out to turn on their frat brothers. 

There's also the fact that I think Miley was the one who looked the fool on stage, not her backup dancers. She's also been co-signed with a number of African-American rappers and producers, who are all too happy to work with this crazy white girl in order to have a chance at some of her money and exposure. I think the Juicy J's, Mike Will's, and backup dancers Miley works with are smart enough to know what they are doing. I don't think they are being played. Yes, Miley is slumming it in order to get cred, rebel against her goody-two-shoes past, and prove that she is a sophisticated young lady. But I'm guessing if you go to most clubs in the U.S., they will be full of white girls shaking their asses to hip-hop.

The debate around Miley twerking is part of a larger story that has been going on for years with African-American culture: blacks get shit on, they make art as a release and/or reflection of the pain of being shit on, and then the people indirectly or directly responsible for shitting on them consume that art as being authentic, unlike their privileged lives. Because shitting on people offers much less opportunity to make great art than being shit on. 

In my review of Chief Keef's Finally Rich, I wrote, "there is something inherently sad about the fact that Keef has gotten huge by celebrating the traumatic, disfunctional world he comes from. Half his fans love his music because it reflects the world they know, and the other half love it because it shows them the edgy, "real" world that exists outside the safety of their parents' suburban homes. I don't know which is more depressing. Equally depressing is the fact that there is a high possibility that Keef will fall victim to the violence he came up in, and an almost certainty that he'll end up in jail for parole violations."

Benjamin Nugents book American Nerd noted that one thing that separates most white nerds from the popular crowd is the fact that they don't use hip-hop slang or embrace hip-hop culture. Their hyperwhiteness separated them from the rest of society. Young privileged white people are all about calling their friends "homie," bumping hip-hop, and safely embracing elements of a culture that they would never want to interact with face to face. The same kids dancing to Juicy J at a club in San Francisco's wealthy Marina district stay far, far away from Hunters Point or the Bayview, where the actual poor blacks live. 

In other words, the racial problems that plague society are reflected in our pop culture, and years of black coolness hasn't done a lot to make African-Americans more equal in society. Black music may dominate the pop charts, but black men are still disproportionally represented in the prison systems. I think it is a step in the right direction that music is no longer as segregated as it was in the 1980s, but it is worth reminding ourselves that liking hip-hop or R&B doesn't cure racism.



(image from Getty, stolen from the Huffington Post)

Lee Bannon and Steve Arrington and Dam Funk

I reviewed Lee Bannon's instrumental ep this week on RapReviews. It's a hip-hop take on British electronic production, yet another example of hip-hop producers embracing ambient music.

I also reviewed Steve Arrington and Dam Funk's album Higher. It's an interesting slab of 80s funk, but is a bit unpolished.

Feminist Oi

My daughter and I have been listening to Hard Skin's Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear all week. Hard Skin are an oi band that have been around since the mid-nineties. The band plays in the vein of classic oi/street punk bands like Sham 69 and the Angelic Upstarts, while both celebrating and taking the piss out of skinhead culture. From what I can tell, the members both sincerely appreciate early street punk, but also realize how ridiculous it often is, not to mention the latent chauvinism and racism of the scene. (Most street punk bands describe themselves as "apolitical," but they tend to be apolitical in the same way that Tea Party Republicans aren't racist.)

Hard Skin's lineup includes members of 90s punk bands Wat Tyler and Thatcher on Acid, and their original drummer was in 90s shoegaze band Lush. Their first album was called "Hard Nuts and Hard Cunts," and contained songs like "Oi! Not Jobs!" and "Bunch of Pissed Up Cunts." They have the mix of punk rock, pub rock, and glam rock that are the cornerstone of oi, complete with shoutalong choruses and hooks. Lots and lots of hooks. For their latest album, they've released two versions. The first, Hard Skin on the Balls, contains twelve songs with Fat Bob's gruff vocals. The second version, Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear, contains the same twelve songs with a rotating lineup of female vocalists singing instead of Fat Bob. It's pretty amazing.

First off, the vocalists range from obvious (Beki Bondage, who's band Vice Squad was part of the original wave of Oi in the 80s), to really surprising (folk singers Joanna Newsom and Alela Diane).  The female vocals soften some of the rough edges of the songs, and add an ironic twist to the lyrics. Some of them are kind of stunt-ey: Joanna Newsom doesn't totally sell herself as a cockney punk, for example. But most of them are spot on. Veronica Falls singers Marion Herbain and Roxanne Clifford's sweet voices work perfectly with opener "Council Estate," the one millionth street punk song about council estates. Lush's Miki Berenyi proves that she could have been a punk singer on "You Still Here?" My favorite song is "Another Terrace Anthem," sung by Fucked Up's bassist Mustard Gas. Her vocals have a tunefulness that Fat Bob's version is missing, and add a lot to the song. It's not that the female vocals make the songs softer, it's that they offer another opinion, another take, another example of what it feels like to be pissed off about being marginalized. Diversity has become a cliche, but it is important not because it is politically correct, but because it makes life richer and more interesting. As illustrated so beautifully by Hard Skin.

Oh Miley, Up Yours!

It is traditional for young women who have come up through the Disney machine to slut the fuck out when they come of age as a way to show the world that they are no longer innocent little girls. Cristina did it with her Dirrty video, Britney did it over and over again, Vanessa Hudgens leaked nude photos of herself, and then starred with Selena Gomez in Spring Breakers. But no one has slutted out quite like Miley Cyrus. The former Hannah Montana star first raised eyebrows for her video for "We Can't Stop,"  which showcased her newfound love of molly, black people, and strippers. Then during the MTV self-congratulatory strokefest Music Video Awards Sunday, she danced like a gakked out 19-year-old who just had her first lesbian experience at a strip club in the bad section of Baton Rouge. This has gotten the internet all worked up. Her dad is convinced that she is possessed by the devil, liberals are proclaiming her act as a "cultural appropriation at its worst" (to quote the Guardian), while Fox called her act a cheerleading squad for hookers. 

If Miley wants to do a bunch of drugs and ho the fuck out, that's her business. Go have some threesomes. Dance like a stripper. Slap some asses. Kiss your girlfriends and make out with a dude you just met. Try lesbianism. Go crazy. That's what being 19 is for - to act like an ass and explore your sexuality. Some people have said she's too young to act like that, but I think if she was much older she'd be too OLD to act like that. And let me be clear: as long as people are being safe and respectful of their sex partners, I don't care how many people they sleep with. I think labeling a woman as a slut because she likes sex, or thinking a woman can't have self-respect if she chooses to be sexual is bullshit.  Some of the strongest, most together women I know had phases of major promiscuity. A woman can be sexual and not have self-esteem or daddy issues. She can just like sex. So if Miley wants to sleep with hella people, go for it. That's a perk of being young, beautiful and rich.

And if she wants to appropriate black culture to rebel, whatever. Yeah, it's problematic yar yar yar, but she didn't invent the rules, she's just playing by them. She's not the first white kid to embrace hip-hop as a way to freak her parents out. Hopefully she is genuine with her black friends, but if she's treating them as tokens I'm sure they are smart enough to know whats up and are doing just fine with letting the white girl buy the drugs and booze in exchange for being cool by association. I'm a little concerned that she's such a terrible singer and dancer, given that has been her job for years, but that's nothing new either.

What really bothered me about the event, beyond the fact that everyone was freaking out about something so calculated, is the fact that there you had Miley, in her undies freaking on anything that moved, surrounded by half-naked women, while the three dudes on stage were fully clothed and not sexualized at all. What the fuck is up with that? THAT is what I hate about mainstream pop culture, and especially mainstream hip-hop and R&B. The girls are all in booty shorts gyrating while the guys are in their fucking football jerseys acting like they couldnt' give a shit. I'm not offended by the half-naked women, but let's make the stakes even, for crissakes. Robin Thicke coulda taken his shirt off, at least, or did some Magic Mike stripper moves with Miley. THAT woulda been amazing.

What's ironic is that before the VMAs MTV released a video of Grimes and Kathleen Hannah talking about what it means to be a feminist musician. Grimes had a wonderful point in which she said that she never considered herself a  feminist when she was starting out in her insular scene because her gender didn't matter. It was only when she got out of her liberal, supportive bubble into the terrible world and all of a sudden her gender was the ONLY thing that mattered that she started getting pissed off about how unequally she was being treated, and got into feminism. How rad would it be if Miley's next move was quoting bell hooks and doing a duet with Peaches?

Zomby Review

I reviewed Zomby's latest at RapReviews this week. With Love is a two-disc set that combines drum n bass, techno, ambient and Southern trap instrumentals. I've heard that trap was the latest EDM fad, but I hadn't heard much of it. In my head, EDM/trap sounds like With Love: moody ambient music with rolling hi-hats and snapping snares. In reality, it sounds like your typical bombastic techno only with a some hi-hats.

I can imagine Juicy J or Rick Ross rapping over "The Things You Do."


Compare that to the stuff on Into The AM's list of best trap artists of 2012. It sounds to me like it is hitting the notes that all stadium dance music hits. I think that is amazing if you are gakked out at a club or festival, but there is no subtlety or artistry to it at all. It's like watching hardcore porn - all sensory overload, no nuance or thought. Awesome if you are 20, not so great if you are a 38-year-old dad. I'll settle for Zomby.

In Praise of Green Day

Summer 1994. I had just gotten my first apartment (paying $400 a month to live in a two-bedroom townhouse in Park Merced near San Francisco State University), I was working at a record store, I thought I had it all. And then I got my first heartache. My first serious girlfriend broke up with me in a sort of shitty way, but then there aren't ever good ways to break up with someone. I was devastated. Even though we had only been together for only about four months, I was madly in love with her, and had no idea that our relationship would end. She was a quirky indie girl who looked like Bjork. Her ex was the comic book artist Adrian Tomine, whom she left for me, who wrote a strip
about it.

It was my first serious relationship and serious breakup, and I did not know how to handle it. I had invested so much into the relationship and it suddenly went up in smoke. I shared things with her that I never told anyone else. She had talked about getting married and having kids. It seemed so unfair. I talked about it endlessly for months. I called her for weeks on end trying to understand why she broke up with me. I didn't understand the impermanence of young love, and the fact that things fade. Or that the more that I acted like a pathetic weirdo, the worse off I was. I did understand that wallowing in my misery was a losing proposition, and I knew that the gloomy, downer grunge music I had been listening to was not the right thing to help me get over my heartache. Luckily, I discovered Green Day about that time.

Green Day and Jawbreaker were the first local punk bands I listened to, and the first local scene I felt a part of. By 1994 I had been listening to punk for about six years, but always as an outsider, listening to bands from L.A. or DC that had broken up already. The East Bay pop punk scene was going strong in 1994, and I got to be a part of it. I saw Green Day at Slims that year, right after their major label debut Dookie had been released, but before it had sold millions of copies and gotten endless play on MTV and the radio. I liked Dookie well enough, but my favorite Green Day album was and still is their debut CD, 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, which collected their first album and two early EPs. Green Day were three high school drop outs who made pop punk songs about crushes, and that early album perfectly captures teenage romantic angst. The album opener "At the Library" is a brilliant song about trying to talk to a cute girl at the library:



Then there was "Don't Leave Me," an impassioned plea to an ex:


My favorite song was "Going to Pasalaqua," which showed a songwriting maturity that was leagues ahead of anything else anyone in the East Bay scene was doing.



What I loved about Green Day was that they were fun and positive and happy, while wallowing just a little in being screwed up. Compare that to the Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana, the two other bands I was really into at the time. Their music was intense, it was emotional, and it was mostly based on feeling depressed and miserable. That's not what I needed when I was depressed and miserable. I was also 19, I was living in San Francisco, and I knew that the world was my oyster if I would only try to grab it.

My interest in Green Day waned pretty quickly. By 1995's Insomniac, I was over them. I won't accuse them of selling out, because they've taken their sound to millions of people, had their music adapted to a Broadway musical, and taken their poppy sound much further than I ever thought possible. I may not love their post-Dookie output, but I can't begrudge a band whose music has meant so much to millions of young people. I sold all their CDs ten years ago when I was purging my collection, so now I listen to them on Spotify from time to time.

 I managed to get over my ex by the end of 1994, and soon had another girlfriend (who also broke my heart). I've never found my ex girlfriend online to see how she's doing. I'm sure she's doing well, and I hope she doesn't cringe too much when she thinks of me.

Castle and Joey Bada$$ Reviews

I reviewed Castle's new album Gasface this week on RapReviews. It's pretty good, and has the virtue of being one of the few rap albums I've actually been able to pay money for.

I also reviewed the new Joey Bada$$ mixtape.  Makes me wish I was in New York.

Peeps Review

I reviewed Australian rapper Peeps' latest EP at RapReviews last week.  Wasn't really my jam, but it's available for free if you want to check it out.

Run the Jewels has a video for "36" Chain," that is buddy cop meets grind house. It made me better appreciate the brilliance of the album. The whole thing is meant to be ridiculously aggressive, like a Tarantino movie put to wax.  In an effort to get their kidnapped squirrel, they beat up a hipster, tear a homemaker's eye out, kill a grandma, and blow away an entire surprise party.




I also found the first three Black Sabbath records for super cheap, so I've been enjoying them. My daughter, not so much.



That got me in the mood to revisit some doom/stoner metal, so I listened to Sleep's hour-long "Dopesmoker," which is pretty amazing.



And Noothgrush, a crust/doom band who I guess are still playing. This video was from a show last month at Gilman, which is like three miles from my house.



Of course, none of this works for a six-month old. With her I've been listening to old show tunes and dance music.

Half Time

Given that the year is a little over half done, it seems like a good time to look back on the albums released so far in 2013.

The Good

There are several albums that have been in heavy rotation at my house, including:

James Blake, Overgrown
Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap
Disclosure, Settle
Rhye, Woman
Run the Jewels, S/T
Savages, Silence Yourself
Tree, Sunday School II

I've enjoyed but had a harder time getting into:

Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
Deerhunter, Monomania
Laura Mvula, Sing to the Moon
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, We the Common
Wavves, Afraid of Heights

And I conciously avoided the new Jay Z album, since it has been years since Jay has had anything interesting enough to say to fill an album, the new Kanye, which has lyrics as terrible as the beats are great, and the new My Bloody Valentine, because I'm not shelling out twenty-six bucks to hear them do the same thing they were doing 22 years ago.

Burzum and faux edginess

Vlag Vikernes, the man behind Burzum, was arrested and (subsequently released)in France on terrorism suspicions. He's already served time in jail for murdering a member of the metal band Mayhem and burning three churches. I saw him interviewed in the documentary "Lords of Chaos" on Norwegian black metal, and he came off as a charismatic psychopath. His website has all manner of vile screeds about how the jews are taking over and pagans need to fight back, and how immigrants and Jews were responsible for a recent train crash in France. Vile, horrendous stuff. I'm not even gonna link to his site because it is so hateful, fucked up, and wrong.

Vice ran an article by Zachary Lipez about people wearing Burzum and Skrewdriver shirts "ironically."  I've definitely seen Haight street crusties with Burzum shirts and patches. The excuse is that Burzum's music is amazing, and his music isn't overtly political. I'm not a fan of black metal, so I can't speak to Vikernes's musical genius, but the conversation around him makes me miss the uber-PC days of my youth. Back when I was tangentially involved in the punk scene, from 1993-2001, racist music was verbotten. Stores couldn't stock white power bands, musicians with racists pasts wouldn't get reviewed in Maximum Rock N' Roll, and basically being on the record as a racist would make you a pariah. There were no ironic Skrewdriver shirts back then, and while people whispered about how good musically their first record was, they wouldn't admit that in polite company. Even dubious "apolitical" oi bands like Combat 84 were looked upon with derision and suspicion. And that's the way it should be. To co-opt the title of a straight edge comp, some ideas are poisonous. In my mind racism, and especially the violent, conspiracy theory racism of Vikernes, should be as taboo as incest and cannibalism (I'd add murder, but that hardly seems very taboo anymore). It's just as damaging to the human race. I'm not proposing that anyone who ever expresses any un-PC ideas be publicly shamed and ridiculed, but I don't think racism should be considered an acceptable or excusable point of view.

And racism definitely should not be considered "edgy," unless by edgy you mean you are on the edge of being a total and complete asshole. Flirting with neo-nazi ideology isn't edgy. It's not challenging the existing social order and stodgy, hypocritical bourgeois values. Racism caters to the existing status quo, and is as old and played out as the religions that Vikernes is raging against. Making gross generalizations and stereotypes about an entire group of people is the kind of thing the counter-culture should be completely against. You know what would be really edgy? Treating all people with love, respect, and kindness, and trying to see people as individuals and not stereotypes.

As I wrote in my earlier post/rant on asshole art, I think you can and should engage with art by people who have different opinions than you, to a point. Burzum crossed that line years ago. If Vikernes was just a right-wing windbag who made music about Norse gods, I wouldn't have a problem with people listening to him. I think you can enjoy Ted Nugent's music without being a total gun-loving conservative. But the fact that Vikernes has translated his twisted views into action, and encourages other people to do the same, taints everything he does. There are thousands of black metal bands. Go listen to one of them. Stop pretending that flirting with a neo-nazism is edgy or counter-cultural.

Remz, Run the Jewels, and keeping it mellow

I reviewed Run the Jewels last week at RapReviews. It's the El-P/Killer Mike collaboration. It's aggressive, noisy, and a lot of fun. El-P is the loosest he's been on record since his Company Flow days. The two rappers seem to be invigorating one another, and it's great to hear.

I also reviewed an EP by Remz, an Australian rapper. It's aggressive battle rap, done well enough but not really my jam.

I haven't listened to the new Kanye. I'm interested, and from what I hear the production is interesting. I am not a fan of Kanye's rapping, and his oversized ego makes it hard for me to love him. I'm outright ignoring the new Jay-Z album. I think he jumped the shark a few records back, although he does usually manage a good single or two.

I'm more excited about the new Colleen album, The Weighing of the Heart. Colleen is Cecile Schott, a French musician who has released several albums of ambient acoustic music. This is the first one I've really listened to, and it seems to combine the mellow introspection of ambient music with the warmth of folk music. Kind of like a female Hauschka. I'm into it.

Daft Punk Review

I reviewed Daft Punk's new album for RapReviews this week. I originally intended it as a hit piece on how boring the album was, but the more I listened to it the more it grew on me. I still think it would have been better had it been punchier, but it's still good. They really capture the super sounds of the seventies, and it's great to hear Chic's Nile Rodgers again.

I've been listening to the new Disclosure album. They are a UK garage duo that have gotten a lot of hype.  Rose and I have been having dance parties to it, which she seems to be into.



We've also been listening to the new Boards of Canada, which basically sounds like Boards of Canada.  It's good mellow morning or evening music.



And then there is Run the Jewels, the new collaboration between El-P and Killer Mike. It's basically a continuation of Killer Mike's El-P produced "R.A.P. Music." Loud and aggressive and maybe not what a five month old should be listening to.

DJ Mustard and Tree Reviews

I reviewed two albums last week for RapReviews. The first is DJ Mustard's Ketchup mixtape. He's an L.A. producer known for his ratchet club beats. I liked his minimalist club sound, but the I couldn't hang with the rappers, who rap exclusively about partying.

I also reviewed Tree's Sunday School II album. He's a Chicago rapper who describes his style as "soul trap," and it fits. It's a combination of raw and soulful, street and conscious. It's the second amazing free album from a Chicago rapper that I've heard in the past month, the first being Chance the Rapper's Acid Rap. The year started off with Chief Keef's high-profile release, and Kanye just dropped his crazy, noisy new album, so Chicago has been all about it this year. You should go to Tree's website and download Sunday School II now.

Asshole Art

There's a great article this week on the Gameological Society's website by Bob Mackey about whether to support art made by people who hold views that you strongly disagree with. Mackey discusses a Kickstarter campaign by Doug TenNapel, the creator of Earthworm Jim, to fund a sequel to one of his games.  The problem: TenNapel is also very homophobic, as expressed in the dumbest possible terms in a comment thread on his webcomic. Granted, TenNapel has the right to be a homophobic asshole, but if you disagree with him, should you be supporting him monetarily? Or is it wrong to declare that every artist subscribe to your ideological views? In TenNapel's case, his art isn't about his beliefs, at least not directly, and he's not a huge supporter of anti-gay organizations. He's a jerk. Whatever. As opposed to, say, Chic-Fil-A, who use their profits to directly support suppression of gay rights.

At the same time, rapper Action Bronson's latest project Saab Stories, which was just released, has the most offensive cover art I've seen in a long, long time.  The second I saw it, I thought "Fuck that dude, I'm never supporting anything he ever does ever." I'm done, seriously. His persona sucks.

I do think it is important to expose yourself to viewpoints you might not agree with, and to listen to people who have political or religious views other than your own. I don't think it is healthy for our society if liberals just read Mother Jones and the Nation and listen to Democracy Now! and conservatives just watch Fox and listen to Glenn Beck. However, I wouldn't expect a conservative to listen to Democracy Now!, and I am sure as hell not going to waste my time listening to Beck. I read the Economist, which skews further right than my views, and I think a conservative would do well to read the New York Times or NPR news, which skews slightly left. I have friends who have religious and political views I disagree with. I still value their friendship. We just don't talk about certain subjects.   Your views on gays or abortion or the size of government don't make you a good or bad person, necessarily. Misguided and wrong, perhaps, but bad, no.


And like all good Americans raised on 1984, I don't want the government to control what I read or hear. I don't like the idea of things being suppressed or censored by the government. But. However. Here's the thing. Not all ideas are worth expressing. Not all ideas are worth defending. Not all ideas deserve air time. Not all ideas need to be put out there. If you are advocating oppressing and denying rights to an entire group of people, then go fuck yourself. Your ideas are not just bad, they are harmful, and I'm not going to support you. Feel free to express yourself, but don't be surprised when you experience a harsh backlash from people who find your views abhorrent. Freedom of expression doesn't mean freedom from consequences, and it doesn't mean you get to be a dick with zero repercussions. Put it this way: if you publicly state how much you love popping ecstasy or smoking weed, you can be sure that there will consequences. Bye-bye any job with an organization that has a strict anti-drug policy, which includes a lot of corporate jobs and government jobs. It might be hard to get a gig working with kids. You might get asked to leave the nonprofit board you are on. There are consequences.

Whenever people get upset about rape jokes or songs about wife-beating, the other side raises the specter of censorship. I agree that I don't want the government to tell me what I can or cannot hear, and I think that the hysteria around offensive media is often out of proportion and misplaced. Much of the hysteria about violent video games came from people who had never played the games and were exaggerating or misunderstanding what was going on in them - like calling the brief soft-core sex scenes in Mass Effect a "Sex Simulator," ignoring that the game was built around deep campaigns and that the brief sex scenes were only achieved when you had built relationships with your crew members. Or that the game was intended for adults.  I want politicians to protect kids by making sure they have access to education, healthcare, and food, that their parents have access to decent jobs, and that their communities are safe and they aren't treated like de facto criminals.

Still, I get annoyed by how the conversation always turns to defending peoples right to say terrible, terrible things, as if the threat of censorship outweighed all other concerns. Reducing the amount of rapes in this country and the world is more important than a comedian's right to joke about it like it's no big deal. The huge and terrible impact of domestic violence is more important than a rapper's right to rap about beating up his girlfriend. Dude can still rap about it, but the rest of us have the right and duty to call shenanigans. I love Ice Cube, but "Black Korea" is a despicable song, and the line about kicking a pregnant woman in the tummy was way out of line.

I also don't necessarily want to get into a situation where anytime someone says something un-PC they are automatically branded a heathen and castigated. One thing I found really irritating about the white liberals I went to university with was their glee at pointing out how racist/sexist/agist/transphobic/anti-vegetarian their fellow white liberals were. It was very much a purer and holier than thou attitude that I didn't find helpful at all. It made any conversation impossible, and I think more than anything it gave those who held "un-PC" viewpoints power. It made them feel righteous and let their ideas fester unchallenged. So much of the vitriolic talk radio is couched in the guise of "telling it like it is," saying the stuff the liberal media doesn't want you to hear. If we engaged more with these conversations instead of making so much stuff taboo, maybe we could defuse some of the more toxic ideas. Or maybe we'd be giving assholes way more air time than they deserve.

Music for Little Girls

It's my first week as a stay-at-home dad, and I'm trying to find music that I like that my four-month-old daughter will like as well. She doesn't directly react to music yet, so a lot of it is finding music that seems to put her in an ok mood. Anything too aggro, angry, aggressive, or stressful is out. Add to that pile anything really noisy or offensive. I don't want her first word to be "bitch." What I've settled on is dub reggae, which has a mellow rhythm, some electronica, old jazz, and classical. I've also decided that 70s dance music is where its at: disco and disco like substances. It's fun, it's simple, and she seems to like it. I also think that some of the Ramones and Sweet catalogue could work - basically bubblegum punk music. And then sometimes we just listen to NPR.

In terms of hip-hop, it's trickier. A lot of the stuff I get excited about is either super vulgar, which is no good, or too aggressive. I love El-P, but it's not the kind of vibe I want to set for my baby. Not that I think it will damage her, but it's not the energy and emotion that she needs right now. Let her get into that when she is older and more cynical and jaded.

Jah Thomas Review

I reviewed a reissue of Jah Thomas's 'Stop Yu Loafin' this week on RapReviews.

Carry on.

Savages

Sometimes the hype is dead on. Savages are fucking amazing. This all-female quartet from the UK combines elements of early-80s post-punk (Joy Division, Gang of Four, Siouxsie and the Banshees), and kill it. They are angular, angsty, dark, and pissed off. Best of all, their lyrics present a feminist perspective that you rarely see in music. And they are rumored to be amazing live.

Strangelove and Sizzla Reviews

I did two reviews this week, while my kid was napping.

First up is a quickie of Strangelove's "Purple" EP. You can listen to it or download it here.


Then I reviewed Sizzla's seventieth LP, The Messiah.  I have issues with some of Sizzla's political and religious views, but I enjoyed this album nonetheless. Sizzla nicely mixes hard dancehall with roots reggae, without trying to be R&B or smooth jazz.

In other news, I've been listening to the new Daft Punk, which I am having a hard time getting into. It's sort of easy listening disco. It's interesting, but I can't decide if I like it.

Snoop Lion Review

I reviewed Snoop Lion's new reggae album Reincarnated at RapReviews this week. The good news is that some of the production and guest spots aren't half bad. The bad news is that Snoop is not very good as a reggae singer. "Here Comes the King" is a good track, and there are a few others, but for the most part Snoop sounds like a high school stoner who just heard Bob Marley and now thinks he's a reggae star.

Acid Rap

I reviewed Chance the Rapper's Acid Rap this week on RapReviews. Really good stuff.

That's all I got.

Incidentally, I heard on Shots Fired that Jeff Weiss spent three days reviewing this album. I spent two hours. Read his review at Pitchfork and tell me who did a better job.  (Hint: it's Weiss. I guess taking time to write actually produces better writing. Huh.)

Kreayshawn Review

I reviewed Kreayshawn's Something 'Bout Kreay for RapReviews this week. It's less a review of the album as an examination of why it did so poorly.

I've been listening to a lot of music. The new Deerhunter came out, which is noisy as hell. I also got the new Savages album, which sounds like early Souixsie and the Banshees. The new Killer Mike and El-P album is coming out soon, as is Danny Brown's new album. What do all four of these albums have in common? I can't really listen to them around my daughter. Hm.

Homeboy Sandman, TeeFlii, and Ratchet R&B

I reviewed Homeboy Sandman's Kool Herc: Fertile Crescent EP this week for Rapreviews. It's a collaboration with producer EL RTNC that is a throwback to early hip-hop. I'm constantly on the fence about Homeboy Sandman: I like him in theory, but in practice I sometimes have issues with his delivery, but this EP is solid.

He did a video for "Peace and Love":


I also reviewed TeeFlii's AnnieRUO'Tay mixtape. It's a concept album about drinking, popping molly, and having sex with groupies in the VIP area. In other words, it has about as much to do with my life as "Game of Thrones," and yet I love it. It's totally ridiculous, but kind of amazing. Sort of like a younger, more ratchet R. Kelly.



Which got me listening to R. Kelly's 2007 album "Double Up," which is amazing. R. Kelly is sort of like Lonely Island or Flight of the Conchords, only serious and he can sing. The title track is a tasteless ode to threesomes with Snoop Dogg that is so awful I love it.

Yellowman Review

I reviewed Yellowman's Young Gifted and Yellow perspective last week on RapReviews.
I was into it.



I also deleted about five albums from my "to review" folder. They were all self-released albums that I wasn't totally feeling, and given the little time I have to listen to and write about music, I don't really want to waste it on stuff I'm not feeling. I have reviews of TeeFlii and the new Homeboy Sandman submitted, and I'm not sure what I got on my plate for the coming weeks.

Boldy James Review

I reviewed Boldy James' new EP, "Grand Quarters," this week on RapReviews. He's a Detroit rapper following in the tradition of the Clipse.



I've been on an electronic music kick. I've been enjoying Sepalcure's 2011 debut album, which is sort of dubstep meets house meets downtempo. Good late night listening.

Reviews

I've been busy with fatherhood, so I haven't had time to update this blog in a while. I have written a few reviews including:

A review of the Lions album.

A review of the new Shlohmo EP.

A review of the latest Pitbull album.

A review of the latest Pusha T mixtape.

A review of the Heliocentrics album.

I've been listening to the new Wavves, the new Rhye album, the new Devendra Banhart, Boldy James' new EP, and Prince Douglas's Roots of Dub. Mostly, though, I've been either at work or trying to spend as much time with my kid as possible.  So there's that.

Pusha T Review/What I've Been Listening To

I reviewed Pusha T's new mixtape on RapReviews this week. 

I've also been digging Grimes' 2012 album Visions, which I was late to. It's sort of Goth dance music. 

I'm trying to get into the new Thao and the Get Down Stay Down album, which came out on my daughter's birthday, but so far it hasn't grabbed me. I loved their last album, and I want to be Thao's friend, but I just haven't gotten into this one yet. 

I've also been listening to the Lion's album. It's guys from Hepcat hooking up with OG reggae musicians to make OG reggae music. Sort of what the Daptones did for R&B. pretty good stuff. 

I'm also trying to digest the Heliocentrics new one, which is no easy task.

I also bought the two English Beat albums I didn't own, Just Can't Stop It and Special Beat Service. Both albums totally hold up, by the way, even though they are thirty years old. 

Etana and Kevin Gates Reviews

I did two reviews this week. First up is a review of Etana's new album, Better Tomorrow. She's a reggae singer with a gorgeous voice. The production can get a little adult contemporary for my tastes, but there are some good songs on the album.

The other review is for Kevin Gates' The Luca Brasi Story mixtape. He's a Baton Rouge rapper with sing/rap style that seems destined to be huge.

I'm currently listening to Pusha T's Wrath of Cain mixtape, the Underachiever's mixtape, and a lot of reggae and dub. I have a theory that the mellow, repetitive riddims of reggae are just the thing to soothe a newborn. It seems to be working so far with my daughter. Oh, and Andy Stott's hypnotic Luxury Problems.

Reviews

It's been a month since I've posted here. I've been too busy tending to new life to keep up the blog, but I have done a few reviews in the past month. Including:

Disco and Spence's Heatwave EP. 

Phace's Plozart.

Nosaj Thing's Home.

Disposable Heroes' Hipocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury.

Quanstar and Outsiders Review

I reviewed Atlanta rapper Quanstar's latest, Yo Soy La Mierda, as well as the Outsiders album. Quanstar is an independent rapper who has put out ten albums, done a documentary, written a book, does a web show about cooking, and makes Android apps. The Outsiders make Christian club rap. Neither were my thing, but they were both sincere and committed to their craft, so props to them.

I've been listening to a lot of downtempo electronic music. Nosaj Thing just came out with a new album, Home, which I've been listening to. Burial has a new single which I'm enjoying. In a similar vein their is Andy Stott's album Luxury Problems, which is dark and moody.

Chief Keef

I did a review of Chief Keef's Finally Rich at RapReviews that is up now. I'm not that proud of it. I think it is more of a rant and a put-down, two things I don't think you should indulge in very often, and certainly not publicly. Given that I'm not Keef's demographic, I am not sure I should have written about it in the first place. I now wish I had spent less time on his backstory and more time talking about his actual music. I stand by my opinion, that his music is terrible, but in some ways my review is like an old man telling the kids to get off his lawn. At least I'm not Jim DeRogatis, who's review of the album, which links it to the Newtown massacre, has gotten a lot of derision. I think critics are hating on DeRo unfairly. He wasn't saying that Keef is to blame for Newton,  he was comparing the gun murders in Chicago to the Newtwon tragedy, and saying that if we think it would be tasteless to glamourize Newton, why is it ok to glamourize the gang violence in Chicago.

I think Keith can rap about whatever Keith wants to rap about, and if kids connect to it, so be it. What bothers me about Keith's music is the way that it is being celebrated by Spin, Pitchfork, and the New York Times by white guys in their 30s. Here's a 17-year-old kid making monosyllabic street rap, and he is being made out to be some sort of savant genius by critics.  I'm not saying he's an idiot-you don't get to be a label head and get a huge record contract by being stupid - but his music is about fucking, getting wasted, wasting haters, and spending money. Full stop. There's nothing more to it. There is no self-reflection or self-awareness. And, in case I haven't mentioned it before, he can't rap.

Maybe I'm like the jazzheads in the sixties who thought rock was noise, or the rockers in the 80s who thought hip-hop was noise, or the people who don't like dance music because there's no lyrics. Maybe I'm missing the point or an old fart who just doesn't get it. But, while I can accept that hip-hop will continue to change and evolve, there needs to be some sort of ability or craft to what rappers are doing.

Best of/JJ Doom Review

My year-end best of is up at RapReviews.com.

I did it alphabetically, which is cheating. If I was forced to do it ranking, the order might be
1. El-P
2. Kendrick Lamar
3. Burial
4. Killer Mike
5. Brother Ali
6. Death Grips
7. Oddisee
8. Apollo Brown
9. Brother Ali
10. Quakers

Or something like that.

As is my review of the JJ DOOM album. Meh.

My review of Chief Keef is up as well, which I'll post next week.

Favorite Songs of 2012

Here are my favorite songs of 2012, in no particular order

El-P, "The Full Retard"

Killer Mike, "Big Beast"

Rick Ross, "Hold Me Back"

La Sera "Break My Heart"

Burial, "Kindred"

Kendrick Lamar, "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe"

Babies, "Alligator"

Quakers featuring Guilty Simpson and MED, "Fitta Happier"

Evian Christ, "Fuck It None of Y'all Don't Rap"

Death Grips, "Get Got"

Brother Ali, "Work Everyday"

Ceremony, "Citizen"

Favorite Albums of 2012

2012 was a big year. It started with the birth of my nephew, my apartment almost being burned down, and the death of my grandmother. In May, my wife and I found out we were expecting and bought a house within a 24-hour period. I moved out of San Francisco, my home for 19 years, to the East Bay. I finished a Master's degree. I grew professionally. And through it all I managed to write a review or two a week. Every year I wonder if I am too old to listen to hip-hop anymore. The answer I came up with this year is yes and no. There is a lot of rap music that I am too old to listen to. Street rap like Chief Keef or King Louis is too nihilistic for my old man ears. Club rap like Pitbull is too far removed from my life. I am far past the age of popping bottles in clubs. In fact, I never was at that age.

There was a lot of music that spoke to me, though. For one thing, a lot of thirtysomethings put out solid albums in 2012. Aesop Rock, Brother Ali, El-P, Killer Mike, Guilty Simpson, and Oddisee all released excellent albums that showed a depth and maturity that you don't see in younger rappers. Unless that younger rapper is Kendrick Lamar, who released one of the best albums of the year. "Good kid M.A.A.D. city managed to walk the perfect line between mainstream rap and backpack rap, conscious rap and gangsta rap. It's a bummer that so many of his songs are so foul-mouthed. The album has been 86'ed by my wife because it is so full of profanity.

I'm going to have a daughter in early 2013, and I'm not sure how that will impact the music I listen to. I can't imagine a baby being into noisy music, and I can't see myself listening to profanity-laced rap music around my kid. I'm already wondering if I should start buying the edited versions of albums so that I can play them around the house.

I spent a lot of the year stressed out and studying, so listened to a fair amount of mellow music. Much of that took the form of old jazz albums, but I also explored ambient music and instrumental music. I'm especially enamored with the so-called instrumental hip-hop coming out of Los Angeles's Low End Theory scene - Flying Lotus, Gaslamp Killer, Nosaj Thing, etc. I'm not really seeing the connection to hip-hop, but it is some of the more interesting electronic music being made today.

I didn't listen to a lot of new punk or indie rock this year. I'm not sure why. I liked the albums by Metz and Ceremony well enough, but they didn't make my heavy rotation. I've downloaded the Tame Impala record everyone loves but haven't listened to it enough to make up my mind about. My favorite albums were side projects by two members of the Vivian Girls. I'm not a huge fan of the Vivian Girls, but I loved the new albums by La Sera and the Babies. I also loved Grizzly Bear's Shields, despite my efforts to hate it for its utter pretentiousness and preciousness.

Here's a list of some of my favorite new albums of 2012, in alphabetical order.

Aesop Rock, Skelethon

Babies, Our House On the Hill

Brother Ali, Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color

Burial, Kindred EP. 

Death Grips, The Money Store/No Love Deep Web

El-P, Cancer 4 Cure

Flying Lotus, Until the Quiet Comes

Gaslamp Killer, Breakthrough

Grizzly Bear, Shields

Kendrick Lamar, good kid, M.A.A.D city

Killer Mike, R.A.P. Music

La Sera, Sees the Light

Quakers s/t

Iron Lyon Review

I reviewed Iron Lyon's "From the Ground Up" last week on RapReviews. I should have a best-of up there soon.

The review is here.

Chief, Gaslamp Killer, and Heems Reviews

I've written three new reviews for RapReviews.

Shadows Crossing is the new instrumental album by Swiss producer Chief.

Nehru Jackets, a mixtape by ex-Das Racist rapper Heems.

Breakthrough, the debut album by The Gaslamp Killer.

Too Much Music

I've been reviewing records for RapReviews for five years now. If I average four reviews a month, that means I've reviewed around 250 albums for the site. That's a lot. I've begun deleted a lot of those files from my hard drive and throwing away many of the promos. My original thinking was that I wanted to archive everything - who knows when I'll want to listen to that Crew54 album I reviewed four years ago. But I've come to realize I don't have time to listen to all this shit. I have almost 10,000 songs on my iPod. It would take me over a month to listen to all of them, assuming I listened for twelve hours a day. And honestly, a lot of the stuff I review I don't really need to revisit, even if I like it.

One of my current musical goals is to have every Beatles and John Coltrane studio album. I'm close on the Beatles: I'm just missing their first two and Sgt. Peppers. For Coltrane I have some work to do. The Beatles released eleven albums, Coltrane somewhere in the twenties or thirties, so he has more territory to cover. I also want to actually LISTEN to all of his albums. I'm familiar with all the Beatles. Coltrane's work takes concentration. I've owned "Ole" for over a year and just recently started really getting it. 

Every year I say that I'm going to buy less music, and every year I fail at that goal. I am trying to be more honest about what I can listen to and what I am going to want to listen to in my free time. It's hard to fight my natural inclination to want to hear everything, even if I know I'll never be able to truly absorb it.

I'm convinced that many of the most loved albums from the past fifty years are loved in part because people spent so much time with them. If you only listened to Abbey Road a few times on your iPod, I'm not sure it would have the same impact as it did to the people who listened to it over and over again, in its entirety. I wonder if that means that the music we admire the most twenty or forty years from now will be songs rather than albums. Who listens to entire albums, and how many times do they listen to them? 

Reggae Golden Jubilee Review

I reviewed the new box set Reggae Golden Jubilee on RapReviews this week. It's a four-disc set that goes from the earliest days of ska and rocksteady, through the roots reggae 70s, the dancehall 80s, and beyond. The first three discs (through the 80s) were fantastic, even if there is some overlap with other compilations, including VP's own Out of Many compilation released earlier this year. I wasn't as in love with the final disc, which concentrated on contemporary reggae. I didn't really need to hear Sean Paul again, you know?

What I'm Listening to

I'm in the middle of writing my final school paper, a hectic end of year period at work, going on vacations and conferences, and preparing for some massive (positive) life changes. As always dub and punk rock are helping me mitigate and manage the stress. I'm really happy with Metz's new self-titled disc on Sub Pop. It's lean, muscular punk that is catchy as hell, not unlike Hot Snakes.



The other artists helping me make it through is Big Youth. I can't ever understand a word he says, but for some reason his chatting always manages to calm me down and put me in a good mood.

And if that doesn't work, a little Duke Ellington or John Coltrane is sure to do the trick. Especially if they are together.

RoyceBIRTH and Guilty Simpson Reviews

I reviewed Apollo Brown and Guilty Simpson's Dice Game this week on RapReviews. I've been a fan of Guilty since hearing him on some tracks back in 2007, and I'm happy to see him progressing (just a little) as an artist. Apollo Brown is a consistently good producer, and this disc is definitely worth check out.

I also reviewed royceBIRTH's "TheREBIRTH."

Tricky and Flying Lotus Review

I reviewed Tricky's 1996 album  Pre-Millennium Tension for RapReviews last week. It remains one of my favorite albums ever, even if the second half drags.

I also reviewed Flying Lotus's Until the Quiet Comes. I always enjoy what Flying Lotus puts down.

Death Grips and Zion I Review

I reviewed Death Grips' latest album No Love Deep Web on RapReviews a few weeks ago. This album was released as a free download after their label said they didn't want to release two albums by them in one year. You can download it for free at their website, www.thirdworlds.net, but be warned: the cover of the album is  a photo of an erect penis with the album title written on it in sharpie. I replaced the picture with one of John Travolta on my iTunes. I don't need to be having pornographic images on my iPod.

I may like the new album better than The Money Store. It's the same thing - jagged electronic beats with Ride rap/yelling about getting wasted. The formula could go so wrong so easily - it's not that far removed from Limp Bizkit. But there is a realness and a sense of actual danger in their music that makes it work. It's not something I can listen to all the time, but there are definitely days when what I need is something noisy and angry.

I also reviewed Oakland hip-hop act Zion I's new album Shadowboxing.  While it's the same formula of a lot of hip-hop I've been enjoying recently - rapping over electronic production - I was not feeling it. I wanted to like it because they are local boys, but I did not enjoy it.

Roots Manuva Review

I reviewed Roots Manuva's 1999 album Brand New Second Hand on RapReviews as part of UK Month.

It's a British take on hip-hop purism. A solid album.

Wretch 32 Review

I reviewed British rapper Wretch 32's Wretchersize last week on RapReviews.  My favorite track was opener "Hold Me Back," which features Wretch rhyming over an Evian Christ song. Evian Christ has a free mixtape which I've been enjoying. I love the combination of Southern rap and electronic music. There's always been an avant-garde element to Southern hip-hop production, and it's nice to hear artists from outside that world mess with the template.

I've also been working on reviews for the new Death Grips and Roots Manuva's debut. I'm trying to get through the new Grizzly Bear, but so far haven't had the time or gumption. I've also been listening to Flying Lotus's new one, which is amazing as always.

Brother Ali Review

I reviewed the new Brother Ali on RapReviews this week.  I love Brother Ali and I love Mourning In America and Dreaming In Color.

Aesop Rock Review

Here's my review of Aesop Rock's latest, Skelethon.It was originally posted on RapReviews.


In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that this is the first Aesop Rock album I've ever listened to. I know he's from my hometown, I know he's been making records since the late nineties, and I know critics love him. I'm a fan of his old production partner Blockhead, and I'm a fan of his old label Definitive Jux and his current label Rhymesavers. I've even heard him featured on countless rap albums, lending his distinct voice to tracks by everyone from Percee P to Blueprint to El-P to Atmosphere to Illogic to Tame One. I've heard of Aesop Rock and I've heard Aesop Rock. So why have I never bothered to actually listen to his music?

The fact is Aesop Rock makes intimidating music. His raps are quick and dense, full of convoluted wordplay and references. He favors beats that are loud and disquieting. This isn't music to rock the party, get a club jumping, or provide a soundtrack for Friday night. Aesop's music is paranoid, insular, and unnerving. If your stereotypical rap party is a bunch of dudes in designer clothes smoking weed and drinking cognac with half-naked models in the VIP section of a swank club, "Skelethon" is two grad students on Ritalin chattering competing conspiracy theories in the kitchen of a dilapidated flat. Listening to his music is like reading a William Faulkner novel - you need CliffsNotes to understand what is going on. Those hesitations aside, I picked up his latest hoping to finally understand what the man is all about.
Let's cut to the chase: Aesop Rock really is as good as all of the critics make him out to be. Few MCs can spit rhymes as intricate dense as Aesop. Even El-P, who probably comes closest to Aesop's style, seems as simple as Flo Rida when compared to Aesop.
Take for example "ZZZ Top." The lyrics read more like prose than rap, yet he manages to make all the words fit together like verbal Tetris:

"Somebody in a cultivated moment of distress
Composed themselves enough to artfully carve 'Zoso' in this desk
They was probably thinking "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you" in they head
With a hell bound arm in a acidy wash
Homemade curfew a thousand o'clock and the pot leaf tattoo his friend did drunk
Like a badge of mystique though it technically sucked
Taking the name of the father in vein on the way to the blade in his locker
Estranged, a switch he'd lifted from a sibling's skivvy drawer
Who'd branched off into ninja stars, and never his shit was sharked to
Here with a higher purpose
In the primal urge of juvenile berserkers
Like Crocea Mors in a arcade drop claw gouging a valentine for Miss Othmar
Watch, capital "zed", slowly maneuver the "o"
"S" is the most difficult to control
Finally "o", into the eye of the goliath you go
That levy crushin' percussion'll pull the monkey upright
12 or ghetto blaster, black or technicolor telecaster
Lecture at a faster rate than class was making him develop"

There's a downside to Aesop's cleverness, though. I lifted those lyrics directly from his website because there is no way I was going to try to transcribe the torrent of words that comes out of his mouth. Especially when he's using words like "Crocea Mors," which according to Wikipedia is the name given to Julius Caesar's sword. I realize I complain a lot on RapReviews about how dumbed down so many hip-hop lyrics are, but Aesop Rock has the opposite problem. He's a little like the Dennis Miller of hip-hop. spitting so many obscure references that the audience can't help but miss most of them.

There is also the matter of Aesop Rock's voice. It's an acquired taste. He raps in a constipated flow as if he is eternally holding in a big hit of weed. His voice has turned me off in the past, but much like E-40 or B-Real's flow, you get used to it. I may never learn to love his voice, but I can live with it.

There is a big upside to Aesop Rock's challenging verbosity that makes up for the funcrushed vibe and obscure references. "Skelethon" is one of the smartest and most rewarding albums I've heard in a while, rivaled only by El-P and Killer Mike's recent work. Listening to Aesop Rock rhyme is like taking a master class in how to be an emcee: Danny Brown has said that he learned to rap by studying Aesop Rock's rhymes. The songs are riddles that you untangle a little bit more with each listen.

If you need proof of the man's brilliance, listen to "Ruby '81." It's a filler track of sorts, a brief, cinematic description of a young girl who gets out of her crib on Fourth of July while her parents are busy partying and ends up face down in the pool. Aesop builds cinematic tension describing how Ruby gets away, and just when you are sure that the story ends tragically, the family dog saves the day. Aesop paints these pictures with a poet's skill, describing the scene and the drama.

The sometimes somber and deep mood of the album is lightened by Aesop Rock's twisted sense of humor. "Homemade Mummy" describes mummifying the family cat; "Racing Stripes" is about bad homemade haircuts; "Grace" starts off with a boy wishing "Dear God Thanks/And if you loved me vegetables would be extinct." There is a wave of nostalgia throughout the album, with Aesop capturing vignettes from his own childhood and high school days.

On top of the rhymes, the record sounds great. It is the first record that Aesop has produced totally on his own, and he constructs a mix of live instruments and samples to match his rhymes. All of the beats are backed in solid, heavy drums. "ZZZ Top" is built around a drum solo, and many of the other songs feature live drums. There is a sameness to some of the songs, as he tends to lean heavily on ominous synthesizers, but he does mix it up."Fryerstarter" combines xylophone with electro shocks, and "Cycles of Gehenna" samples what sounds like a Chinese song. "Grace" sounds like the White Stripes given the boom-bap treatment.

I've mentioned El-P already in this review. It's hard to write about Aesop Rock and not think about his former label mate. Both MCs came up in the late nineties and helped blaze a trail for both indie rap and white MCs. El-P and Aesop Rock showed how white rappers could make authentic, good hip-hop without trying to sound like they were from Marcy Projects. Both released new albums this year after a five-year hiatus, both self-produced their albums, both are mourning the loss of Camu Tao, and both have some relationship issues they are dealing with. Their production style is fairly similar, although El-P is the more accomplished producer. However, there is none of El-P's b-boy posturing or battle rap roots in Aesop Rock's rhymes. He has a collaboration with folk artist Kimya Dawson coming out soon (she appears on "Skelethon,"), and those folk musical influences show up on the album. Aesop Rock seems less grounded in hip-hop than El-P, and the result is an album that is more eclectic than "Cancer 4 Cure."

Given my ignorance of Aesop's body of work, I can't comment on how this album fits into his discography or how it compares against his earlier albums. I can say that "Skelethon" won me over to Team Aesop Rock. However challenging or confusing his rhymes can be, the songs still work with their combination of banging beats, rich lyricism, and twisted humor. Aesop Rock is pushing the boundaries of hip-hop and making other MCs step their game up.

DJ Vadim Review

I reviewed DJ Vadim's Don't Be Scared last week for RapReviews. It's a pretty good dubstep/hip-hop album.

Kaye Review

I reviewed Australian rapper Kaye's debut double album for RapReviews this week. I wasn't a huge fan, but then I don't like double albums, with very few exceptions.

Been listening to the new Aesop Rock, which I hope to review this week if I get my shit together.

Went to a wedding this week and was reminded that there are no Pitbull song appropriate for dancing with your sister in law or mother in law.

But damn if this isn't a fun song:

RIP Matthew Africa

I wrote this for RapReviews. 


Matthew Africa, a Bay Area DJ, died last week in a car crash. He was 40. He had been a staple of the Bay Area since the 90s, throwing parities, making mixes, and hosting a radio show on UC Berkeley's KALX. I won't try to write an obituary of the man. Nothing I could write would come close to Oliver Wang's tribute on Sole Sides. Instead, I want to share a few thoughts about how Matthew Africa impacted my life, despite the fact that we never met.
I mostly knew Matthew from his Melting Pot blog, which I found my way through Soul Sides. He would post links to his radio show, which I sometimes listened to. Mostly, though, I waited eagerly to read his "Dig Deep" posts. In them, he'd post a few MP3s from some long-forgotten vinyl gem along with a brief description of the artist and the track. The posts not only exposed me to some amazing music, but also some insight into the mind of one of the world's premier crate-diggers and students of music. The man knew almost everything there was to know about funk, jazz, soul, latin music, African music, and anything in between. As a DJ, he understood how the music made people move, and he appreciated the magic of unearthing a gem that had been buried by time. Most important, he loved the records because he loved music, not because it was what was cool or hip at the moment.

His wide-reaching taste in music helped me to expand my own palette. I would take cues from the songs he posted, and his blog and radio show encouraged me to dig deeper into old soul, jazz, and reggae. He helped me to understand how hip-hop related to a larger body of music that went back decades and reached around the world. He helped me see that you could find the funk in unlikely places, and the only thing that mattered was if the music moved you. It's partially because of Matthew's influence that my record collection has diversified considerably in the past few years. I will forever be grateful to Matthew for keeping me connected to hip-hop's roots and for constantly showing me just how much amazing music there was in the world.

When I found out he had passed, it hit me as hard as if he had been one of my good friends. Part of it is the fact that we are similar in some ways: we are both around the same age, both came up in the Bay Area, and both had professional lives outside of music. I even discovered after his passing that we share some mutual friends. Maybe it was the way he died, in the kind of tragic car crash that could happen to anyone. But mostly I think my grief at his passing has to do with pure selfishness: I had so much more to learn from him. About Brazilian psychedelic artists to check out, about amazing soul songs that have been out of print since before I was born, about obscure Bay Area rap groups who only put out one limited-run twelve inch. And about how to always find the funk in even the most unlikely places.

Find his mixes here:
Matthewafrica.podmatic.com

And his blog here:
meltingpotblog.com

Plural Clarity and One Sixth Reviews

I reviewed two albums this week for RapReviews that were both ambitious if flawed. The first was the debut from Aussie MC One Sixth called Electronic Mail.  He raps about romance and love without sounding cheesy or sexist, which is rare in hip-hop.

The second album was Plural Clarity's Clearly There's A Problem Here... He's an incredibly sincere MC, and you can tell he put a lot of heart and soul into this project. I was put off by the production values and his flow. I feel bad for giving the album such a negative review, despite the fact that I was just being honest. I hear so much half-assed rapping by MCs who think that tossing off lazy rhymes about their cars is good enough. Plural Clarity raps have an honesty and passion that you don't hear enough of in hip-hop. I just didn't  happen to love the presentation.

I've also been trying to digest Aesop Rock's new album and the new Antibalas. And trying to get "Call Me Maybe" out of my head. Fuckin' Carly Rae Jepsen.

Mr Boss Review

I wrote about Mr. Boss's The Landing this week at RapReviews.  He's a UK producer who makes pretty solid music.

I'm listening to a few Australian CDs to review for next week. And I downloaded Rick Ross's new album and last album. "I'm Not A Star" has become my new jam. Ross's music is like candy - terrible for you, devoid of any nutrition, but still highly enjoyable.

I'm also digging the new Antibalas.



Killer Mike has a new video for "Untitled."

Solo for Dolo and 50 Years

Between moving from the city the the suburbs, I managed to write to reviews. This week I wrote about Solo for Dolo's latest album, Self-Titled. He's a New Jersey rapper who does the indie rap thing pretty well.

The week of the move I reviewed Out of Many: 50 Years of Jamaican Music, a three-disc box set celebrating Jamaica's 50-year anniversary.  It has some good songs, going chronologically from 1962 to today.

And now I no longer live a ten-minute walk from Amoeba Records, and my record-buying budget is being infringed upon by my new house payment and all the associated costs that come with moving. Which gives me more time to listen to all the stuff I amassed over the past year, I guess.

Open Mike Eagle Review

I reviewed L.A. rapper Open Mike Eagle's latest this week on RapReviews. Good, slightly nerdy rap.

And I have this song in my head:

Meyhem Lauren and Soul 7

I reviewed Meyhem Lauren's "Respect the Fly Shit" this week at RapReviews. He's got a dirty mouth, but the man can rap, and has solid production behind him.

I reviwed the Soul 7 Comp two weeks ago. I'm a fan.

Listening to a lot of Rolling Stones and Beatles.

Random Thoughts

I'm supposed to be either packing or writing a midterm or writing the first two chapters of my capstone project right now, but instead I will share these random thoughts.

1. Bikini Kill's Reject All American is one of the best punk albums ever, right up there with the first Ramones album, Minor Threat's discography, Black Flag's Damaged, the Subhumans From The Cradle To the Grave, Operation Ivy's discography, Jawbreaker's 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, and X's Los Angeles.


Need proof? Listen to "Capri Pants."

2. Mayhem Lauren is one of the better young rappers I've heard in a while, only he's almost too dirty for me.I've never been into X-rated rhymes, and he has several songs in which his sexual adventures are described in pornographic detail.


3.As part of my new initiative to listen to entire pieces of music rather than just snippets,  I've been listening to Steven Reich's "Music For 18 Musicians." It has a wonderful hypnotic quality.

4. I've also been listening to William Basinksi's "Disintegration Loop." It's loops of music he had recorded on audio tape that started to fall apart as he tried to record it to a CD. I believe this video is from the rooftop of his friend's apartment where they listened to it as the sun set on 9/11, with the song become this eulogy to the surreal and horrible experience of that day. It's haunting and mesmerizing, although not so much that I've ever managed to listen to all 60 minutes of it.



5. I watched part of "Basquiat" last night, Julian Schnabel's biopic. It was fugging terrible. I'd recommend you watch "Downtown 80" instead to get a real look at him.

The White Album

I just bought a used copy of the new reissue of the Beatles' 1968 White Album. I've never owned or listened to the entire album before. For a while I had a cassette in which I cherry picked the songs I liked on to one side. It's an amazing album, if totally incohesive. It contains some of their most beautiful songs, like "Dear Prudence," "Blackbird," and "Julia." It contains some of their heaviest songs, like "Yer Blues" and "Helter Skelter." It contains some really weird shit, like "Revolution 9" and "Wild Honey Pie." And it contains some of my favorite songs, like "I'm So Tired."

The Beatles were one of the first bands I ever listened to and loved. I remember listening to my mother's copy of Meet the Beatles when I was in first grade. It's amazing how much they changed in their brief lifespan. In seven years they went from the teeny-bop of "Love Me Do" to the psychedelic weirdness of "I Am the Walrus" to the heavy rock of "Get Back." A lot of it was the times: their trajectory followed the trajectory of popular culture, but I'm not sure how much of that was them following the trends or setting them. My only real problem with the Beatles is that I've heard their songs so much I frankly get sick of them. Which is why it's nice to rediscover their later material, which I have not had as much exposure to. Listening to them is like listening to home: comforting, familiar, sweet, and also dysfunctional and a little discordant.

Maundz Review

I reviewed Aussie rapper Maundz's Zero on RapReviews this week. Aggressive rap in the vein of Jedi Mind Tricks. Good for what it is, but not my thing.

In other news, Stones Throw's reissue label Now Again records started a subscription service. I just joined and got the Witch box set and two funk/soul collections. "Introduction" has become my new theme song.

Best of 2012 So Far

2012 has been a hell of a year so far. It started with my nephew being born on New Year's Eve, then a massive fire near my apartment New Year's Day, then my grandmother passing away a few days later, pets dying, friends getting pregnant, kids getting older, people losing homes, selling homes, buying homes. As I write this I am on the brink of possibly moving to the East Bay after living in San Francisco since 1993. I keep reminding myself that the only constant is change, and that attachment to things is the source of all misery. Much easier to say than actually feel. Although when there was a massive fire blazing four doors down from us, I realized that as long as I had my wife, I had everything I needed, which was a nice lesson to learn. Of course, when I heard our neighbor's apartment had been broken into last week and was unsure about ours, all I could think of was "Not the PS3! I've put like 30 hours into Borderlands!!!!"

Which all goes to say that there has been an undercurrent of stress running in the background for me and mine this year. It's like background noise that you get used to and don't notice until it goes away. Or water slowly boiling, to use another analogy. It's nothing we can't handle, and much less than many people deal with. The key is learning how to adapt to it, and to try to not let it all bog you down.

One constant outlet for me is music. I've been voraciously consuming music this year. I've probably bought or downloaded almost a hundred since the year started. I've gotten into jazz in a big way and discovered these new sets from Real Gone Jazz that collect 6-8 albums on 3-4 discs, all for around $14. The packaging and liner notes suck, they put two albums on each disc and the sound quality isn't amazing, but it is a nice way to get an overview of an artist's work. I've gotten sets by Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Yusef Lateef, and Curtis Fuller.

There's also been some great rap albums released this year. YU started things off with The Earn, followed by the excellent Quakers album. Death Grips, Killer Mike, and El-P followed up in the Spring by releasing three excellent albums. And that's just the stuff I listened to. Oddisee, Schoolboy Q and Blockhead have all released new albums that have gotten praise.

Maybe the only constants are change, and music.

In related news, Death Grips has a video for "Double Helix" that was filmed using a car's rear camera:


And the video for Killer Mike's "Big Beast" features zombie strippers and more gore than a horror movie.

House Shoes Review

I reviewed Detroit producer House Shoes' debut album this week on RapReviews, Let It Go. It's good. He works with a lot of underground rappers from Detroit, L.A., New York, and beyond.

Here's a video for one of my favorite songs from the album, "Time."

Harn Solo and Illogic

I reviewed Harn Solo's album Shooting Star.  Wasn't feeling it, but you can check out his bandcamp page to see if it's your thing.

I also review Illogic and Blockhead's album Preparing For Capture. I was a fan of it. You can also get it on bandcamp. 

El-P, Clams Casino,

I have some new reviews up at RapReviews.

Last week I did a review of the new Clams Casino instrumental mixtape. Hard to believe that these are hip-hop beats. They sound more like ambient electronica.

I also reviewed Romain Virgo's latest album, The System. He's one of the more promising contemporary reggae singers out there.

I also reviewed Bigg Jus's Machines That Make Civilization Fun. It is a challenging, daring record that unfortunately doesn't work in execution.

Finally, I reviewed El-P's Cancer 4 Cure.

Here's that review, originally posted on RapReviews:



An El-P album is an event. He's only released three vocal albums in the past ten years, and each one has been a must-own, at least for fans of underground hip-hop. His albums are carefully constructed, full of complicated rhymes, themes, and beats. He does all his own production (only fitting for a man originally known as El-Producto), collaborating with a team of musicians to create music that falls somewhere between hip-hop, rock, and noise. Each of his two previous albums set such a high standard that when he announced his latest release, fans had to wonder if he could keep up his winning streak. From the first listen of "Cancer 4 Cure," the answer is clear: of course he can.

2002's "Fantastic Damage" tried to process post 9/11 New York, and 2007's "I'll Sleep When You're Dead" captured the paranoia and dysfunction of the Bush years. El-P has called "Cancer 4 Cure" his fighting record, and the man's got a lot to be angry about. The economy is STILL in the toilet, being voted out of office somehow made the right wing come back angrier and stronger than ever, we're still fighting two endless wars that we refuse to talk about or pay for, and, oh yeah, El-P lost his label AND his best friend. While the death of Camu Tao hangs over the album, the demise of Definitive Jux seems to have given El-P the gift of freedom. He no longer has to worry about negotiating with artists, vendors, distributors, and retailers. He's not bogged down in the day-to-day business of running a label, and is no longer on the front lines of the disintegrating record industry. Instead he's free to do what he does best: make amazing beats and spit intricate rhymes. He's already done some of his best production work in years on Killer Mike's "R.A.P. Music," so evidently losing his label hasn't kept him down.

Let me put this out there: El-P isn't the most technically proficient rapper. His stentorian flow is reminiscent of Chuck D, but his delivery lacks finesse or swagger. It's not that he's bad, but he's not the greatest rapper ever. When Danny Brown and Killer Mike show up they outshine El-P, despite the fact that both of their verses are tossed-off. However, what El-P lacks in style he more than makes up for by being one of the best lyricists and storytellers in hip-hop. The man should be writing novels and poetry. His gifts almost seem wasted in rap format, especially since he only dribbles out 13 tracks every five years. The operative word here is almost, because the combination of El-P's lyrics and beats is almost always gold.

Case in point: "The Full Retard." The track samples Camu Tao's "When You're Going Down," with the late rapper urging the listener to "pump this shit like they do in the future." And future is exactly the word to describe El-P's production. Ominous synths, clattering noise, and sci-fi samples are his bread and butter. His beats are like art made out of garbage. He takes a bunch of cast-off, disparate elements and molds them into some other level shit. Any idiot with a computer can make noisy beats, though. What makes an El-P beat an El-P beat is his deep knowledge of and respect for hip-hop. His beats are BEATS, grounded in banging drums and often referencing the golden age of 80s New York rap, when being noisy was a good thing. There is a little more bang in this album than on "I'll Sleep When You're Dead." That album had its share of slow and experimental tracks. For the most part, "Cancer 4 Cure" moves relentlessly forward, barely stopping to take a breath.

El-P is a master at one-liners and clever wordplay. "Don't you know this is a rotten time to not not be me?" he asks on "Works Every Time." "I've got memories to lose, man, I am in a rush." On the sort-of love song "The Jig Is Up," he tells a potential suitor "Men like me don't ever get no second chance/Not for the kind of man who showed up at death's door and ding dong dashed so much he wore out a hole in the welcome mat." His lyrics are full of references and double meanings, so much so that you'll still be unpacking them even after hundreds of listens. He's sort of like hip-hop's version of William Faulkner, whose novels are so dense you need the Cliff's Notes just to understand what the hell is going on. Five years after "I'll Sleep When You're Dead" came out I'm still discovering new things in those songs, and "Cancer 4 Cure" will demand an equal amount of attention.

A lot of this album deals with dark subject matter. The single "Drones Over Brooklyn" imagines New York under siege. "For My Upstairs Neighbor (Mums the Word)" seems at first to be about the insensitivity of New York life, as a man is questioned by the police about an incident at his neighbor's apartment:

"You all know what I know and that's heaping pile of donut holes
I didn't even know them
I am not your perfect witness
Your team of fat blue buddies waddling around and trying to crack the case
Are better off locating someone else
I spent the day on my New York shit
Didn't even meet them once
And no I'm not upset, I'm just another guy minding his business
[...]
Come on, you know the drill
These walls are thick
I got my own shit that I'm dealing with
I haven't seen or heard a thing
I never met 'em
That's the city
Good luck working it, Columbo
I'ma bounce
You got my info but you'll never get my pity and I'm out"

It's only later in the song that you realize that what is really happening is that the neighbor has been beating his wife, and the narrator is giving the wife permission to kill her abuser, telling her "If you kill him, I won't tell." This is a return to subject matter he first delved into on Company Flow's "Last Good Sleep," in which he described pretending to sleep while his stepfather beat his mother.

"Tougher Colder Killer" describes a soldier interrogating an enemy, delving into the horrors of the wars we are fighting, and the psychological and physical damage they are inflicting on everyone involved.

"To the mother of my enemy I just killed
Your son, he died with his face to the sky and
It can not be undone
He didn't die hard
In the end he just grinned and bowed
Made him dig his own grave at the point of a gun while he laughed to the gods out loud
And it made me wanna jump out a window
And it made me wanna scream
Tear my face off
Run through the streets
[...]
I wanted you to know that since then I don't sleep
And the uniform tags sidearm ID that I wore when I did it got sent C.O.D to the HQ
Note reading 'This is not me and I hate you
For making me make a man bleed.'"

I grew up with several Vietnam vets who bore the scars from that war decades after it ended, and I can only imagine that our current wars are causing just as many scars on the young people who are fighting them. "Tougher Colder Killer" addresses the deeper, longer term effects of war on its combatants.

This being an El-P album, there are the inevitable songs about dysfunctional relationships, or more accurately, how he doesn't understand why women like him when he thinks he is such a mess. "The Jig Is Up" overcomes its emo self-loathing with a banging beat. "Sign Here" is either an interrogation or a sado-masochistic relationship. Either way it is creepy as hell. The album ends with the eight-minute long "$4 Vic/Nothing But You + Me (FTL)." The production is muddy and dirge-like, until the outro kicks in at the 6 minute mark sampling what sounds like the intro to "Kid Icarus." El-P sheds his hard exterior, rapping:

"I know there's
Something good that I'd die here for
Something great that I'd live here for
Something fly that I'd write for you
Something wrong that I'd bite you for
Something sacred you'd cure me of
Something sad to make sure your loved
Some of us cannot trust no one
Some of us don't deserve no trust
Nothing wrong with not being strong
Nothing says we need to beat what's wrong
Nothing manmade remains made long
That's a debt we can't back out of
Nothing that they can take from you
[...]
They can torture and interrogate
And shackle to my boot
I will gnaw off my own leg
And hop the fuck right back to you"

"Cancer 4 Cure" can get headache-inducing at times. Some of the noisy beats are noisier than others, and it can be an awful lot of vitriol to take in one sitting. Still, it is prime El-P, deep, heavy, funny, and banging all at the same time. The picture El-P paints with "Cancer 4 Cure" isn't always a pretty one, but it is always well-executed and uniquely his own.