CD REVIEWS
Dec 1, 2005 12:00 PM
FORT MINOR
The Rising Tied (Machine Shop/Warner)
Linkin Park MC strikes out on his own with help from Jigga
Talk as much trash about Mike Shinoda's flow as you want; he simply doesn't care. And why should he? The man's solo rap debut is co-signed by Mr. Def Jam himself, Jay-Z, and assisted throughout by other hip-hop heavyweights such as Common and Black Thought. Unfettered by the conceptual consensus necessitated by his role as one part of a whole in Linkin Park, Shinoda gets more personal than ever before over beats wholly his own.
On “Kenji,” he offers the heart-wrenching story of his family's forced confinement in the Japanese internment camps of World War II, connecting with a segment of the emotional spectrum that most MCs only dream of. He gives meddling label execs and shady journalists the finger on “Get Me Gone” and then, with a defiant John Legend, resolutely takes the “High Road” over staccato keys and pounding percussion. On “In Stereo,” he keeps it gully over hard drums and eerie synth keys and then partners that with a catchy chorus that has “single” stamped all over it. Maybe The Rising Tied won't go 18-times Platinum like Hybrid Theory, but at least Shinoda will have gotten “back to basics in hip-hop” with a laudable measure of success.
— DJ Ethx
A.R.E. WEAPONS
Free in the Streets (Defend Music)
Who said Jarvis Cocker had taste?
If, in 2001, The Strokes marked the first glimpse of a then-marginalized New York underground returning to form, A.R.E. Weapons may come to be remembered as the forced epilogue of a book that wasn't that good to begin with. Even though Pulp's Jarvis Cocker discovered A.R.E., nothing on the group's latest album is hardcore at all: Take equal parts Iggy Pop and Joy Division; mix in some programmed beats, a live drummer and a few chunky power chords; and you're there. Overall, A.R.E.'s Free in the Streets is doomed to be the soundtrack to hipster shoe stores the world over.
— Robert Hanson
BASSNECTAR
Mesmerizing the Ultra (Organic)
The place for ultimate bass
Bassnectar is an artist most people will not be familiar with by name alone, but breakbeat's biggest DJs have been charting this production machine's work for ages. Bassnectar's debut CD is an ambitious work spanning two discs and featuring collaborations with KRS-One, Freq Nasty, STS9 and even author Noam Chomsky. Like the eclectic array of artists, Bassnectar's sound veers off into many directions, including breaks, downtempo, hip-hop, IDM and drum 'n' bass. Each track also has a sick bass line, which sheds some light on the artist's name.
— Justin Kleinfeld
BEHROUZ & YOUSEF
Renaissance Presents Frontiers (Renaissance)
Two DJs, two Western coasts
Hailing from San Francisco and Liverpool, England, respectively, Behrouz and Yousef made their names running up frequent-flier miles and playing packed clubs. It's no surprise, then, that each recorded his disc live (in one take) — Yousef using Pioneer's DJM-1000 mixer and EFX-1000 unit for his funky, upbeat set and Behrouz opting for a UREI mixer and a Lexicon JamMan for his melodic trance mix. Both discs fall short of promoting Renaissance's legendary comp-label status but are a satisfying snippet of what these DJs do live.
— Genevieve Powers
DIPLO
Fabriclive 24 (Fabric)
Leftfield producer turns on the bass
A clever, crazy romp through hip-hop, Miami bass, electro and techno, this Fabriclive installment is one of the best and most unpredictable yet. Diplo captures the spirit of an old-fashioned booty shake by throwing together seemingly incongruous tunes that, unless taken as a whole, seem to have little to do with each other — Yazoo's classic “Don't Go,” Nina Sky's “Turnin' Me On” — but by the time Aphex Twin's “Windowlicker” hits the speakers, there's no turning back. What happens when Ludacris, Cat Power and Le Tigre get together in one room? From the sound of it, one hell of a party.
— Christine Hsieh
DISSENT
Primal Deconstruction (Wide Hive)
Chillout veterans offer a new hybrid
The opener makes you think John Bonham faked his death, got smaller sticks and joined a noise-funk quartet, the driving drums later yielding to “Fight or Flight,” a tropicalia funk bed for Nathalie Sanchez' taut vocal. Minutes later, she's lacing sweaty French whispers over manic jungle. This Bay Area collective's fourth record doesn't elude easy boxes like downtempo or trip-hop; it places them neatly one inside the other. Leader Gregory Howe's organic blend of samples, sequences and live takes is body-moving, as on the busy Amazon fantasy “Walk on Black Water.”
— Dan Frio
DWELE
Some Kinda… (Virgin)
A day in the life
As ambitious as this follow-up to Dwele's much-lauded 2003 debut, Subject, is, it's obvious that he had no concerns about a sophomore slump. And given that he plays virtually all of the instruments, from flute to flügelhorn, Dwele's capabilities as a multi-instrumentalist are now without question. Some Kinda… follows a 24-hour arc with Dwele, giving you an intimate glimpse into his life. “Caught Up” plays out an argument with one of his girls in Peanuts or Peter and the Wolf fashion, with horns cleverly substituting vocals. Dwele's definitely giving Raphael Saadiq and D'Angelo a run for their money.
— DJ Ethx
SMIF 'N' WESSUN
Tek & Steele Reloaded (Duck Down)
The Brovaz may be back but not properly backed up
Tek and Steele (aka Smif 'n' Wessun) caused a stir a decade ago with their debut album, Da Shinin', a perfect blend of gritty, brilliantly traded rhymes; bass-heavy boom-bap beats; and a smattering of Jamaican flavor. It was an undeniable Brooklyn hip-hop classic that evidently turned a few too many heads, as the duo got into legal entanglements with the gun manufacturer of similar name and had to become the Cocoa Brovaz. Now, with legal problems presumably solved but their success unquestionably altered by said lawsuit, Tek and Steele are finally back under their old moniker with an album that has just as many bright points as low ones.
High-profile guests Talib Kweli (“We Came Up”), Dead Prez (“Warriorz Dream”) and original Shinin' producers Da Beatminerz are onboard for a handful of songs; the latter's reggae-tinged “Hustler's Prayer” and the murky “Toolz of the Trade” are highlights. But where Reloaded fails is in the majority of its production. “Sick 'Em Son” and “PNC Boys” are overproduced and commonplace, detracting from Tek and Steele enough to make them sound simply average. And that's not the way it is at all.
— Aaron Schultz
LADY SOVEREIGN
Vertically Challenged (Chocolate Industries)
British MC gets good and grime-y
Make room, M.I.A. and Dizzee Rascal. Packing a cocky flow that's as fast as it is unladylike, grime upstart Lady Sovereign unapologetically gatecrashes the elite guard of Brits that spit with this EP. “Random” screams to life with air-raid horns, and producer Medasyn inflicts pain on weak speakers with heavy bass detonations and rapid-fire drums. On the remix, Menta lets the bass boom longer and unearths tinny Knight Rider — style keyboards for a blend of bold and brittle. “Ch-Ching” adds spaceship sound effects to the formula.
— Rob Kirby
STEVE LAWLER
Lights Out 3 (Global Underground)
No surprises here
Steve Lawler could have slipped many of the tracks on this third installment of his Lights Out series into volume 1 or 2 — or his NuBreed or Dark Drums volumes 1 and 2. But there's something to be said for Lawler's unwavering devotion to his genre of choice. Although the occasional analog melody (Neverdogs' “Moltobeat”) or squelching acid bass line (Alex Dolby's “Obsessive Sound”) flavor this two-disc mix with electro, Lawler scatters hollow drums and echoed chants over a steady 4/4 beat, epitomizing the “twisted house” sound that made him famous. Expect equal parts tribal and progressive.
— Genevieve Powers
MERCENARY
Streets, Sins & Sacrifices (Burn Unit)
Between sizzurp and sizzle
The world needs Mercenary's worn script of shifting crack, cappin' rivals and bedding the women of Bull City, North Cackalaka (Durham, N.C.) as much as the new bird flu. But to miss Mercenary is to miss Boss-Smit's head-noddin' beats, which, when mixed with the Southern lope of three MCs, makes you want to lean back on a park bench and wear off your buzz. “Angel on My Shoulder” and “dtocs” sound like Curtis Mayfield cast as a ghetto kingpin. “Southern Shine” could be Stevie Wonder addicted to cough syrup. Bump this late at night while driving slow, hunting for barbecue.
— Dan Frio
OC
Smoke and Mirrors (Hieroglyphics)
Brooklyn MC stomps with some soul
Blame it on Kanye — now, everyone's digging for the old soul sample to hang drums and vocals on, hoping for a hit. Producer Mike Lowe cribs the strategy on “You Made Me,” but on the driving “My Way,” he crunches electric guitar to back OC's tongue lashings at hip-hop's fakes and snakes. Minnie Ripperton's spirit hovers over “Gone,” a cringing R&B stab about a shorty done wrong. Pink Floyd vibes in “Emotions” cancel out the sap. But, overall, weak sonics hinder the record. The beats and keys lack depth and sound mixed and mastered inside the box. Maybe a better desk or outboard gear next time?
— Dan Frio
OMEGA ONE
The Lo-Fi Chronicles (Nature Sounds)
Party at Pi Kappa Omega
With all the fancy scratch work on Aesop Rock's Labor Days to his name, New Yorker Omega One's instrumental hip-hop debut is spacey and stoned. Like Dan the Automator's Deltron beats, Chronicles is for crowded dorm rooms, and the hand drums on somber cuts like “T.a.B.” call to water bongs and plastic red cups of flat beer. Sci-fi bleeps and weed themes run amok, even if slower-burning ones in the small tainted batch take longer to fire up. The evolving beat structure and menacing string loop of “The Hashishin” smokes like the others, but on this one, the buzz kicks in right away.
— Dominic Umile
OSCAR G
Made in Miami (Star 69)
Radiant rather than murky
As part of Murk, Oscar G has been a key element in bringing Miami to the attention of the house-music scene. On this collection, he does his best to represent that city in an enduring dance-music light. With a combination of timeless numbers, future classics and current floor fillers, Oscar goes one step beyond the basic mix CD by interspersing custom-made edits, loops and vocals. Extending that idea further are personalized mash-ups of familiar tracks, giving them a new life. Made spares no expense in bringing the peak-of-the-night club vibe onto disc and immortalizing it there.
— Lily Moayeri
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Om:10 (Om)
Bay Area label celebrates a decade of future music — and counting
It's always a shock when a dance-music label doesn't close its doors after a mere couple of years, let alone manage to last a decade. Om:10 marks the Bay Area — based label's 200 releases and 10 years of existence in a three-disc collection. In an attempt to make things easy for its listeners (as always), Om has dubbed each disc with its particular musical leaning: “House,” “Downtempo” and “Classics.” But those classifications oversimplify the numerous shades present.
Select gems from the reliable imprint, which has been a steady source for accessible yet cutting-edge house-based music in a consistently commercially unfriendly genre, are collected here. Featuring favorites like “Those Who Like to Get Down” by Marques Wyatt, “Cali Spaces” by Mark Farina and “Everything” by Kaskade, Om:10 is chock-full of memories. Other Om acts from the past 10 years — Afro-Mystik, Rithma, Colette, Soulstice, People Under the Stairs, Ming & FS, JT Donaldson and many more — also appear. Given how interestingly these discs are put together, when heard in this fashion, these diverse and notable highlights tell a story you weren't aware was such a big part of your life.
— Lily Moayeri
GILLES PETERSON
The BBC Sessions (Ether)
Live gems for mass consumption
One of the special things about Gilles Peterson's Worldwide shows has been the live sessions recorded in the BBC's famed Maida Vale studios. Here, Peterson shares those moments with the less fortunate. From the fragile musings of Björk's “Who Is It” to the rasp of Roots Manuva (with live band) to the spiritual New Zealand reggae vibes of the soon-to-be huge Fat Freddy's Drop, Peterson shows how he's been able to vibe with so many genres yet still weave them together in a sound unique to himself. These CDs are a must-have for open-minded lovers of all soul music.
— Aaron Schultz
KELLEY POLAR
Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens (Environ)
Strings without the cheese
If you love dance music with strings, then chances are, you will love Love Songs. Kelley Polar is a classically trained viola player who studied at Juilliard and is a huge fan of dance music. He is often associated with Metro Area, for which he created the strings for “Miura” and “Caught Up” on the group's self-titled album. Polar's debut CD pays homage to symphonic disco-orchestral compositions like Salsoul Orchestra's “Magic Bird of Fire” and the works of Rinder & Lewis. Shifting between pop and leftfield electro disco, this CD offers something different from the norm.
— Justin Kleinfeld
SADAT X
Experience & Education (Female Fun)
Fiery rhyme slayer gets tenure
Fifteen years ago, Brand Nubian firebombed a hip-hop scene flush with fuzzy Afrocentric vibes. The black-nationalist rhetoric now seems dated, but aftershocks still ripple. On his second solo LP, X plays the mellow professor. On “The Daily News,” he stitches together Baghdad, Ben Affleck and the Yankees over jittery percussion. “Come on Down” rumbles like a street fight officiated by a horn section. But “(Experience) Why Don't You?” soothes. Production doesn't match the rhyme heights, though. The drums sound as though pumped from a torn speaker through a wet cardboard box.
— Dan Frio
SOUND DIRECTIONS
The Funky Side of Life (Stones Throw)
Look on the funky side
Beat builder Madlib's barroom incarnation of his Yesterday's New Quintet project, Sound Directions, is another feather in his decorative cap. Funky is a sleazy mash of '60s and '70s soul and funk tributes and newbies. When not ducking behind moody organ and pen names in heaters like Paolo Renosto's “Play Car,” Madlib and trumpeter/horn arranger Todd Simon are blasting through the back-alley breaks of the nearly — hip-hop “Dice Game.” The tavern boozehounds settle down some for the sluggish keys and brass of “On the Hill” before it's time to freshen up the drinks and go another round.
— Dominic Umile
WE ARE WOLVES
Non-Stop (Fat Possum)
Punked-up synth songs that matter
Synth-punk bands have grown annoying and old-fashioned, but some still hint at the possibilities of something genuinely vital. Combining a sense of play and improvisation in its Stooges-meets-MC5 sonic caterwaul, Montreal-based trio We Are Wolves sounds dangerous and artful, excitable and comically overwrought. Ancient analog synths get bashed about, as do hypnomanic grooves and wrist-slitting guitar riffs, but it's the trio's nutty energy (“We Are All Winners”) and fondness for kicking in the jams (“Namaï Taïla-Cambodge”) that make Non-Stop such a near-narcotic blast o' fun.
— Ken Micallef
WINDY AND CARL
The Dream House/Dedications to Flea (Kranky)
Ambient love and loss
It's been five years since Windy and Carl, the reigning royalty of drone, have put out a new release. Perhaps making up for lost time, the duo returns with a double EP inspired by the loss of not only a parent but also a pet, respectively. Focusing on extended tones and soundscapes (both EPs have just two tracks, none shorter than 12 minutes), Windy and Carl craft a resounding atmospheric womb of effected guitars and even some keys (a rarity, surprisingly enough). But the real beauty lies in the delicate melodies that emerge several minutes into a track. It pays to listen closely.
— Erin Hutton
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