CD REVIEWS

Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM

BECK

Guero (Geffen/Interscope)

The loser of a thousand faces returns to the barrio

After the weary world of Beck's last album, Sea Change, the perpetual boy wonder picks himself up by his bootstraps and returns with excellent results. A feast for sonic junkies, Guero's 13 tracks run the gamut of Beck's chameleon style: from trashy samples to exquisite Brazilian rhythms and vocal harmonies to faux grunge to white-boy electro.

The vapid opening track, “E-Pro,” recalls earlier tunes in which Beck hid behind a faceless melody and a distorted guitar riff. But “Qué Onda Guero” is irresistible, a return to Beck's “Loser” glory. Over a stomping barrio beat and tooting horns, a duo that sounds like Cheech and Chong giggles non sequiturs: “Are we doing push-ups, man?” and “They have the new Yanni cassette!” “Girl” matches Beach Boys harmonies with a rambling guitar riff and a glowing summer chorus. Bathed in sadness, “Missing” sounds as if sung from a nightmare, a Brazilian guitar and Middle Eastern strings comforting Beck's vocal lament. Guero oozes a shimmering darkness, like a worried man who would rather sleep than face the world. Still, “Earthquake Weather” and “Broken Drum” are so full of surreal shapes and ghostly textures that it's hard not to feel joyous. — Ken Micallef

13&GOD

13&God (Anticon/Alien Transistor)

Perfect union

Thanks to an ill-conceived tour and other conspiring forces, German electronic abstractionists The Notwist and underground hip(hop)sters Themselves have unified as 13&God. The flawless composite of sparse beats, disparate sounds and samples, rueful piano melodies and other acoustic instruments — complemented by Doseone's eerie nasal wordplay and Markus Acher's doleful voice — 13&God is inspired, with both groups retaining their individuality to produce something both tranquilizing and invigorating. Don't miss “Men of Station” and “Afterclap.” — Erin Hutton

LAYZIE BONE & BIZZY BONE

Bone Brothers (Koch)

Duo sticks with what works

Two of the five members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Layzie and Bizzy, collaborate and keep on with what they know best: rapid-fire melodic rhymes. Tracks such as “Real Life,” featuring Treach, and “What's Friends,” with Krayzie Bone, have some good, sticky hooks. The soul sample on “Need Your Body” provides a nice backdrop, much like the laid-back groove of “Hip-Hop Baby” and the Middle Eastern flavor behind “Complicated.” Still, the cadence and melody of Layzie and Bizzy's rhymes are what the album relies on, but MC skills were the staple of Bone Thugs from day one. — Adam Bernard

THE BOOKS

Lost and Safe (Tomlab)

Heady dream collage

Imagine what might happen if Negativland went into the studio with the Album Leaf; it might come out sounding something like The Books' third release, Lost and Safe. Random vocal samples taken from Salvation Army finds appear just as quickly as they give way to pretty, fragile melodies carried out with the help of cello; mandolin; acoustic guitar; banjo; clavinet; and soft, slightly unsure vocals. Constructed almost like dreams, with non sequiturs and random images, tracks such as “Be Good to Them Always,” “Vogt Dig for Kloppervok” and “If Not Now, Whenever” are at once befuddling and soothing. — Erin Hutton

DAFT PUNK

Human After All (Virgin)

French duo discovers art of play

After scoring the soundtrack to Gaspar Noe's 2002 psychosexual thriller, Irreversible, Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter created Human After All as an ode to serious fun. With Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Daft Punk's latest is a riot of repetitive melodies; 24/7 vocoders; and a beat so sticky, you'll need moon boots to free yourself from its grip. Lest you think the album is entirely robotic, the bucolic piano of “Make Love” and the humorously sleepy vocals of “Emotion” will have you vainly reaching for your handkerchief. But the prevailing mood is French funk in overdrive. — Ken Micallef

DJ MARK FARINA

Mushroom Jazz, Volume 5 (Om)

S.F. house DJ keeps it mellow

Mixing hip-hop alongside downtempo house, Mark Farina feels most at home in the place between spaces. On lone original “Cali Spaces,” he hypnotizes with layered vocal snippets, drum clicks and the slow bump of the bass, but the DJ saves his best for the extended blend into Blu Bizness' groove-happy “Funky for You.” And Colossus' organic hip-hop entry, “The Tribute,” likewise gives way seamlessly to the jazz-cat keys of Soundproviders' “Autumn Evening Breeze.” If the series goes to a sixth installment, Farina may need to mine new territory, but this shows there's still life in the franchise. — Rob Kirby

DJ FRESH

Bass Invaderz (System/Human)

Fresh and nasty

In the world of drum 'n' bass, few artists are badder than Bad Company UK, aka )EIB(. Known equally for devastating DJ sets and original productions, this act has a firm place atop the genre. One of its members, DJ Fresh, has built a loyal following of his own; his approach to the wheels of steel is showcased in this video-game-themed mix CD. Here, Fresh uses a wide canvas to paint a vivid picture of the current scene. Smooth vocal tracks such as Calibre & Singing Fats' “Drop It Down” meet up with brain mashers like Fierce & Moving Fusion's “Now's the Time” in an epic war of the breakbeat world. — Justin Kleinfeld

LYRICS BORN

Same !@#$ Different Day (Quannum)

Get your next heavy dose of the Oakland stroke

Surely a producer and rap alchemist as solid as Lyrics Born is astute enough to realize that remix albums aren't always greeted with the same fervor as the original. In this sense, then, the title Same !@#$ could seem almost pre-emptive, but LB needn't have stressed; the new tracks and treatments here are every bit as funky — if not more so — than his acclaimed 2003 debut, Later That Day.

The party jumps off proper with a jacked-up version of “Hello,” produced by fellow Quannum traveler Jumbo the Garbageman. And “I'm Just Raw,” with studio chops from Dan the Automator, provides a hilariously brain-scrambling glimpse of what Born has been up to lately while DJ Shadow flips a new script on the steamy bedroom ode “Over You,” featuring LB's girl-for-life Joyo Velarde. More guests drop in throughout, including KRS-One (“Pack Up Remix”), Morcheeba (“Stop Complaining”), E-40 and Casual (“Callin' Out Remix”) and the ever-masterful Stereo MCs (“I Changed My Mind”). Hydraulic grooves and fluid rhyme schemes have been Born's trademark ever since he founded the genre-busting rap duo Latyrx, and the new !@#$ on Same !@#$ is definitely the !@#$. — Bill Murphy

EDAN

Beauty and the Beat (Lewis)

Trippy cut-and-paste hip-hop

Boston DJ, producer and MC Edan brings an ever-changing, trippy sample collage reminiscent of DJ Shadow and RJD2. While “Funky Voltron,” featuring Insight, brings an old-school-meets-futuristic-James-Brown rhythm, “I See Colours” begins with Edan admitting, “Prince Paul already used this loop, but I'm gonna keep it moving.” So he does, weaving various mystery voices and sounds throughout. Despite such varying sounds, pitch changes and quirky edits in this crate-digger's delight, Beauty and the Beat reveals an underlying continuity from start to finish. — Adam Bernard

THE GLIMMERS

DJ-Kicks (!K7)

Good-time party tricks

The art of a good mix has little to do with smooth segues and the newest jams (though these you gotta have). It's all about taking the listeners exactly where they want to go a split second before they know that's where they want to be. The Glimmers (formerly the Glimmer Twins) deliver on all fronts with DJ-Kicks. This is the sort of effortlessly cool mix that reminds you why you started listening to mixtapes in the first place. Jumping from funk (Lotterboys' “Heroine”) to electro (Peaches' “Lovertits”) to disco (Kerri Chandler's “Disko Satisfaction”), The Glimmers keep it fun, fresh and quirkily eclectic. — L Hermelin

HELL

NY Muscle (International Deejay Gigolo)

Taking the sound back underground

DJ Hell escapes the reckless glitz and shallow glam that consumed the genre he inspired (electroclash, that is) with NY Muscle. Spare, gloomy and grim, NY Muscle pulsates with tightly restrained intensity, swinging from creepy juxtaposition (Erlend Øye's “Keep on Waiting”) to sweaty, LSD-tainted techno (“Let No Man Jack”) and sinuous electro-tinged workouts à la the glory days of IDG (“Control”) before ending on a darkly tongue-in-cheek note with “I Am Amanda Le Pore.” This is the sound of hedonism gone sinister. — Christine Hsieh

LIVING LEGENDS

Classic (Legendary)

Murs, some Madlib and melody

L.A.'s Living Legends crew has toiled about in the independent game since the '90s and boasts an impressive catalog of solo and combined releases. Classic illustrates this presence in its throwback rhyme schemes and warm production. On “Busted,” tattletale storytelling takes priority, but the smart verses are upstaged by the choppy beat, piano, synths and humming backup vocals, which help make for one of the album's best tracks. The Beat Conductor's entry kills here, though, as Madlib's imprint on “Blast Your Radio” pushes the lengthy LP into the multifaceted party that it is. — Dominic Umile

MYLO

Destroy Rock & Roll (Breastfed)

The savior of dance music?

2004 was a breakout year for Mylo. His debut CD, Destroy Rock & Roll, was hailed by some UK press as the savior of dance music — a very bold statement. The disc opens with two nice downtempo tracks in the vein of Röyksopp and Kid Loco, but the fun really kicks in with a trio of big tracks — “Drop the Pressure,” “In My Arms” and “Guilty of Love” — that sound like a meeting of Prince and Daft Punk. Another standout is the title track, a recitation of '80s pop and rock groups over a fat electro track. By and large, this CD is excellent, but it doesn't quite warrant the savior hype. — Justin Kleinfeld

JOEY NEGRO

In the House (Defected)

House: past and present

For the latest in its excellent In the House series, Defected taps legendary DJ and producer Joey Negro to compile and mix a series of classic, up-front disco and house tracks. Spanning several generations, this set will appeal to both the vintage house-music fan and the fan looking to dig deep into the roots of the genre. You'll find contemporary house tracks like Kings of Tomorrow's “Another Day” mixed in with surprises like Roxy Music's “Angel Eyes” and The O'Jays “Put Our Heads Together.” Negro's track selection is great, showing that a superb knowledge of music makes all the difference. — Justin Kleinfeld

BEN WATT

Buzzin' Fly, Volume 2 (Astralwerks)

Socially conscious and culturally aware deep house

In the names of Everything but the Girl and Lazy Dog — Ben Watt's record label and biweekly club night — Buzzin' Fly, Volume 2 follows its predecessor with a streamlined purpose. Volume One was about presenting fresh sounds in deep house using Watt's moody and sultry DJ sets as its vehicle. That release also made a point of introducing new talent drawn from an international pool. Volume 2 continues that tradition with the inclusion of bright voices such as British MC Estelle; Jennifer Valone; and Sofian Rouge, whose Arabic tones blend brilliantly with an upbeat house tempo on “El Wahrania (Monte's Midnight Mix).”

Whereas Volume One had a Latin feel, Volume 2 goes beyond that to include sounds from the far corners of the world. From humid Brazilian horns on “Rosa Nova” to New York street style on the spoken-word (and Watt-penned) track “Pop a Cap in Yo' Ass” to the Afro-centric “Senti Sabi,” the penetrating, warm deep-house vibe pulls everything together. Focusing as much on the lyrical portion as the music, Volume 2 is about telling a verbal and sonic tale set expressly in today's sentient times. — Lily Moayeri

NOSTALGIA 77

The Garden (TruThoughts/Ubiquity)

Superpowered hybrid

When the beat drops on “Cheney Lane,” be prepared to let that jaw hang loose. The Garden is packed with revelatory moments of full-bodied, head-nodding, soul-drenched funk and hip-hop that glow with warmth and spirit. Polished horn arrangements anchor extended solos in “Changes”; brooding Rhodes underpins jagged clarinet lines in “You and Me”; and frantic drumming ups the energy in “After Ararat.” The stunning peak is a brilliant cover of the White Stripes' “Seven Nation Army.” Alice Russell's searing, sandpaper vocals elevate the Stripes' insta-classic into something else entirely. — Christine Hsieh

THE PERCEPTIONISTS

Black Dialogue (Definitive Jux)

Three the hard way

The Perceptionists take it back to one of the oldest formulas in hip-hop: MCs who really flow together and a DJ who gets the track live. Akrobatik (the hard-ass) and Mr. Lif (the smooth one) unite like MC wonder twins, and DJ Fakts One makes it all easy on the ears. Over the gothic organ barrage of “Memorial Day,” Ak and Lif put the Bush administration on blast for phantom WMDs in Iraq. When the dynamic duo teams with Shock G on the lighthearted “Career Finders,” however, it's the easy-buck seekers and ne'er-do-wells the world over who get a slap on the wrist. — Rob Kirby

RZA AND KEB DARGE

The Kings of Funk (BBE)

Funk from the vaults

BBE sets funk in its sights, tapping RZA and Keb Darge to compile a disc apiece, and the funk bonanza begins. As with BBE's Kings of Disco, on which nary a Bee Gee made a soprano peep, the emphasis here is on the rare or unexpected, as with RZA's reggae-soul choice of Ken Boothe's “It's Because I'm Black.” The track's slippery bass and horn punches remind you that roots reggae and funk are first cousins, after all; what's more, Boothe's voice is true soul. Darge alternately goes the party route with Sharon Jones' “Genuine,” and Jones belts it out like a saucy funk diva. Get funky already. — Rob Kirby

DEEPAK SHARMA

Boogaloo: Brooklyn. 3:23PM (Boogaloo)

Music for a mind at rest

A moody, atmospheric mix of what one might hear at the Boogaloo Lounge in Brooklyn, Deepak Sharma's comp of midtempo tech house pulls influences from across the globe and gives a voice to producers still not well-known stateside. Tempowise, this album is the Great Plains of the tech-house kingdom — not too many peaks and valleys. Some tracks stand out (as Laplaceausoleil's expansive “Cherchez Moi” and Skua Lovelle's buoyant “The Morris Jessup Rise”), but though Boogaloo is good for a lazy midafternoon, this space-out runs just a bit too long. — L Hermelin

TARWATER

The Needle Was Traveling (Morr)

Gloomy reports from the East

Tarwater has refreshing production ideas. Rolling electronic soundscapes on Needle aren't mere results of software; rather, the East Berlin duo's technical nuances accent its work's organic base. The vocals sound like bad news, as if a rain forecast or a “keg's been kicked” announcement. Sometimes, the gloominess clouds the wizardry that happens behind the mics, as with “In a Single Place” and “90 Days.” And on “All That,” the finger snaps alongside the eerie synths are unanticipated risks that rarely happen in indie rock. Such risks are here, but not often enough. — Dominic Umile

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Mayfield: Remixed (Rhino)

Soul giant meets the beats

Is nothing sacred? Remixing soul giant Curtis Mayfield seems a ridiculous idea, but who thought The Grey Album would work? Louie Vega drops a pile-driver beat under “Superfly,” and it doesn't totally suck. But Eric Kupper follows the same house treatment for “Move on Up,” making the track miserably unrecognizable. House monotony is also the rub in Blaze's numbing “Freddie's Dead,” with slight variation for Maurice Johnson's “Hell Below.” Only Mix Master Mike connects, dropping jagged beats and daring sounds on “Pusherman” for a nervous, scratched-out'n'up atmosphere. — Ken Micallef

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