CD REVIEWS
Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM
JUNIOR SENIOR
Hey Hey My My Yo Yo (Rykodisc/Crunchy Frog)
Danish duo fuses rock, hip-hop and dance
Junior Senior may be Denmark's biggest export, offering enough of a distraction to make you completely erase Aqua's “Barbie Girl” from your hard drive. Critical acclaim follows the Danish duo just as much for their sexual diversity as for their neo-hippie dance sound. Seriously, is it that big of a deal that Junior is straight and Senior is gay? Enough already! I mean, really, Denmark is so far ahead of the cultural curve that the rest of us look like Neanderthals. And Hey Hey My My Yo Yo is a reflection of that fun-loving, forward-thinking society.
Rock, hip-hop and dance converge in a mash-up of '70s icons: Partridge Family meets the Jackson 5 meets the Sugar Hill Gang. “Take My Time” prances along a “Wanna Be Startin' Something” guitar riff before exploding into a sugary chorus. With endearing piano melodies and harmonies chanting “I won't fall in love,” “No No No's” has enough googly-eyed crush to make David Cassidy smitten. But don't let the nostalgic '70s vibe fool you; the hip-poppy “Hip Hop a Lula” and “Can I Get Get Get” push the boundaries of hip-hop with lyrics more concerned with getting to know one another rather than bitches and ho's. — Jason Jurgens
BITTER:SWEET
The Remix Game (Quango)
And we've got a winner
Taking Bitter:Sweet's debut disc, The Mating Game, and giving it the remix treatment is a typical idea that's yielded far better than typical results. A near dozen producers tweak and twirl Bitter:Sweet's worldly, chilled-out tunes into an appealingly memorable set that's as much outright standout as it is a perfect late-night hipster soundtrack. Yes King adds a little quirkiness to the now-familiar “The Mating Game,” Blackbeard brings a nicely tropical Barbados feel to “Overdue,” Fort Knox Five funks up “Salty Air” and Thievery Corporation makes “Bittersweet Faith” even groovier than the original. — Kristi Kates
DJ C
Sonic Weapons (Wimm)
Bringing out the big guns
The Toneburst Collective was co-founded by DJ C in the late 1990s, and much like well-known member DJ/rupture, C's adept beatmaking and explorations lead him all over the map. Sonic Weapons is a rush; hyper-speed jungle breakbeats and deep, impenetrable bass drills power almost every cut of C's eclectic spread. Guests' weapons are equally divergent. Pamelia Kurstin's theremin floats all over the gurgling riddim of “It Gets Worse,” and like the crunchy “Gi Mi Di Break,” these standouts end too quickly. If you're looking for bigger guns, C's got a whole arsenal worth of serious cracked-out artillery. — Dominic Umile
GRAND NATIONAL
A Drink & A Quick Decision
UK duo raves on
Partly a former Police cover band, Grand National knows its way around well-crafted pop tunes. The duo's second LP, A Drink & A Quick Decision, deploys jangling guitars, melodic electronica and slinky harmonics reminiscent of Happy Mondays and Junior Boys. The overt, distracting influences weigh down most of the LP, but the languid slow-burner “Animal Sounds” and the uptempo “Close Approximation” hint at deeper, latent songwriting skills. The duo has traded well enough on nostalgia so far, but they'd do better cashing out their reference bank if they hope to inspire cover bands of their own. — Jorge Hernandez
CALVIN HARRIS
I Created Disco (Almost Gold)
Young Scot reinvents forgotten genre
If Harris wants to take the blame (or rather, credit) for disco, he might run into some opposition from the Village People (particularly the mustachioed cop). But forget your preconceived notions of disco. The music of I Created Disco ultimately reveals disco's reinvention. Harris understands that disco is truly a producer's medium. The young Scot applies the principles of disco — dance-friendly glam — without the cheese. “Acceptable in the '80s” brings back the glitz of, well, the '80s, with gushing synths, fruity vocals and pulsing low end. This is definitely disco worth digesting. — Jason Jurgens
HEXSTATIC
When Robots Go Bad! (Ninja Tune)
Duo begs you to do the robot
The album title is much more evil than the music suggests. When Robots Go Bad! is more like “when robots make out on the dancefloor.” Sure, you get the laser beams, distorted guitar samples and even robot speak on “Red Laser Beam,” but the theme here is sex. Robin Brunson and Stuart Warren-Hill know how to make a dancefloor steamy. MC B+ adds sultry vocals over huge beats on “Freak Me” (a dance that has been outlawed at junior-high dances across the States). Somebody call Ozone, cause Breakin'-style tempos pervade the album, until “TLC” brings the train to a hault with euphoric downtempo. — Jason Jurgens
ILLER THAN THEIRS
Iller Than Theirs (Embedded)
Homegrown hip-hop from King's County
Thanks to guest producer N.E.M.C., this album from newcomers Iller Than Theirs is highly reminiscent of late-'90s NYC indie hip-hop, when producers were actually taking chances with sampling. But when it comes to rhymes, MCs Kray and Tone Tank sustain a relatively modern lyrical stance, rapping concisely about pressing issues like gentrification in their native Brooklyn (“The Same” featuring Masta Ace). These two may not have the most memorable voices, though their realist raps coupled with N.E.M.C.'s rich, sample-centric beats equal a sound not to be slept on. — Max Herman
MÚM
Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy (Fat Cat)
Icelandic duo bulks up for return
What is it about Icelandic music that chills you to the bone? Take Björk and Sigur RÓs, for example. Whatever it is, Icelandic bands are so cold…er…hot right now. And, for the most part, they are on the cutting edge of the experimental, post-rock crowd. Múm will make its fellow countrymen proud with Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy. Three years wiser (since Summer Make Good) and stripped down to the core founders, Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Póreyjarson Smárason, Múm return with an album characterized by experimental electronic hiccups, pillowy soft vocals and carnivalesque noise. But the duo doesn't go it completely alone. This time the guys welcome a handful of musicians to the mix. A variety of traditional instruments, cello, viola and brass serve as guides through a cold, industrial landscape.
“Blessed Brambles” opens with whimsical strings and chanting over percussion that could have been done on any surface. On “Moon Pulls,” delicate piano and hauntingly familiar Frou Frou-ish vocals create a somber mood. Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy is like life inside a snow globe once it's been shaken. There's a bit of chaos, but the bits fall into place nicely. — Jason Jurgens
KAFANI
Money's My Motivation (Koch)
The value's in the beats
As if it needed explaining, Bay Area cash enthusiast Kafani is concerned primarily with finance on his debut, Money's My Motivation, and he even shouts out to Alan Greenspan amid colossal bass and glass plinks on “Money.” That's the closest Kafani comes to specific economic analysis on Money's, but asset chatter is job one — it's jewelry over flashy synths on “Show Your Wrist Then” and macho vehicles on “Engine Game.” Seldom content shifts bruise Kafani's effort, but beats like Amp Live's slick web of whistles and fuzzy melody on “Fassst (Like a Nascar)” make for hot pit stops. — Dominic Umile
MODESELEKTOR
Happy Birthday! (BPitch Control)
Euro IDM gets hyphy
Berlin fathers-to-be Modeselektor are not afraid to let their freak flag fly. The duo's crunchy, swishy, booty-bass features Thom Yorke, Maximo Park, Puppetmastaz, Paul St. Hilaire and Apparat (among others) collaborating on Happy Birthday! Playing fast and loose with DIY software and MIDI gear, Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary crank out breakneck, dubby, filtered ghetto-tech that excels at getting down and dirty. Tracks like “2000007,” “The White Flash” and “The Dark Side of the Sun” grind rap, rock and acid house into an orgiastic, psychedelic pulp. — Jorge Hernandez
THE NOTORIOUS MSG
Lunch Money EP (Cordless)
New kids on the wok
Say “herro” to the funniest hip-hop gimmick since Kevin Federline. MCs Hong Kong Fever, Down-Lo Mein and The Hunan Bomb went “Straight out of Canton” to the kitchens of New York's Chinatown, so the story goes — and if you don't believe them, they'll “whip your ass with a bamboo cane” and “make you pee in your BVDs.” MSG's comedic talent in their lyrics, videos and live appearances is more genuine than a street vendor's Rolex, and the music is not delectable, but at least appetizing. Tracks move from Rick Rubin-style rock-rap (“Warlord”) to the Dre-by-way-of-Taipei track “Chinatown Hustler.” — Markkus Rovito
PANACEA
The Scenic Route (Glow-in-the-Dark/Rawkus)
DC duo keeps the golden-age alive
On Panacea's sophomore release, MC Raw Poetic and producer K-Murdock grace listeners with a refreshing burst of jazzy, golden-age hip-hop. It may sound like a bold claim, but stylistically, tracks like “Bubble” and “Aim High” prove The Scenic Route could fit comfortably in your CD rack between hip-hop classics by A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Nas. With Raw Poetic's laid-back yet authoritative vocals calling up Black Thought and K-Murdock's sample-based beats creating a mellow yet versatile vibe, Panacea makes an old sound new again. — Dustin Glick
SHAPE OF BROAD MINDS
Craft of the Lost Art (Lex)
Split personalities converge
Call him a madman, but Jneiro Jarel's use of multiple alter egos here is pretty ingenious. With the aid of a beatmaker (Dr. Who Dat?), an MC (Panama Black), vocalist (Roc Wun) and a real-life counterpart (Jawaad), Jarel unleashes his most progressive release to date. His space-boogie sound features a bizarre blend of futuristic synths, classic soul and bursts of psychedelia. But Jarel isn't limited to specific formulas with numbers like his old-school ode to jazz “It Ain't Dead!!” being interspersed throughout. Hip-hop sure doesn't come this impulsive anymore. — Max Herman
SHOCKING PINKS
Shocking Pinks (Astralwerks/DFA)
Think pink
New Zealand dance-punkers Shocking Pinks are like a modern version of the Psychedelic Fursthey've got the beats, the straight-ahead bass lines, the danceable melodiesbut they'll catch you off guard with the rest of their music. Nick Harte's uneven vocals are like that earnest emo boy in your Ethics class: annoying at first, but endearing once you know him. And the SPs constantly throw things in from left field to keep you on your toes. “SmokeScreen” sounds like the tin cans behind a wedding car, “How Am I Not Myself?” offers up a jungle beat and “23” subs piano for vocal right when you least expect it. — Kristi Kates
KEITH MURRAY
Rap-Murr-Phobia (The Fear of Real Hip-Hop) (Koch)
A nearly forgotten voice returns
To most, Keith Murray is a name of the past — a heated MC of the mid-'90s who was clever enough to make up his own words (for example, “beautifullest”) and have everyone singing along. Since those glory days, Murray has considerably fallen out of the hip-hop spotlight. Although with his fifth album, Rap-Murr-Phobia, this Long Island native attempts to reclaim his fame on this thorough yet not-so-surprising new effort.
After all these years and a number of legal woes, Murray has still got a youthful gusto. And with the help of producer Erick Sermon, he covers a variety of styles on this oddly titled album — including R&B-flavored radio hits (“Nobody Do It Better”) and punchy posse cuts (“U Ain't Nobody”). While most of these tracks get the job done, they don't offer much evolution from what Murray's been doing since '94. No doubt key songs like the reggae-tinged “Hustle On” reveal much about this MC's hard-knock past while also providing some top-notch production. But what this album is missing is the inventiveness that made Murray famous. Without it, he leaves an adequate, albeit only temporary, impression. — Max Herman
VALGEIR SIGURSSON
Ekvílibríum (Bedroom Community)
Excellence in ambience
This is an expressive, emotional triumph for accomplished artist and longtime Björk producer Sigursson, now stepping out solo. Recorded in Iceland, the set combines many elements that Sigursson has favored in his work with others, from his skillfully rendered electro-beds to the nature-focused lyrics (“Evolution of Waters,” “Winter Sleep”), tightly focused moods, Eastern influences (“A Symmetry”) and intriguingly hidden, clicking ghosts of instruments and voices that weave in and out almost beyond detection. It's evocative and detailed, and it's all Sigursson's own. — Kristi Kates
TECHNO SQUIRRELS
Plastic Makes It Possible (Rave Police)
Squirrel this one away
With a voice like a less processed Angela McCluskey (Telepopmusik) and a collaborator like talented engineer/programmer Ryan Harlin, Techno Squirrels singer/composer Lisa Eriksson walks a sensitive yet confident line. The production is top-notch, but the real draws are the melodies that reside within the house beats. Whether it's the merry-go-round of “Repeat 'Til Fade,” the thoughtful chill of “Everything” or the folkie feel of “Lightbulb,” the vocals are pretty without being cloying, and the instrumentals complement the tunes to a T (for techno, of course). — Kristi Kates
TELEPHONE JIM JESUS
Anywhere Out of the Everything (Anticon)
Creepier than church
George Chadwick's odd moniker fits him like a glove — or rather, like a surgical mask, as the experiments on his second LP ring with mad-scientist zeal. Jittery sound collages and atmospherics materialize once and then never again on Anywhere, and as Telephone Jim Jesus, Chadwick often glazes hard kicks with soothing loops, just as Alias (who guests on “Birdstatic”) did on Lillian in 2005. “The Castle by the Freeway” offers Sixth Sense-like creeps in ghostly kid vocal samples before comfort washes over “Featherfall” in warm, trusty synths. — Dominic Umile
ÜBERZONE
Ideology (Nitrus)
Robots for everyone!
As innovative in his use of retro-electronic sounds as he is skilled in making them relevant to today, Überzone calls up his 'botz for a disc that was a long-awaited six years in the making. The breakbeat champ and gizmo wiz really makes his gear come alive on this remarkably cohesive release. From the vocoded intro of “Okay” and the ping-pong rhythms of “Vibrate” to the soothing outer-space zip-line ride of the title track, the squelchy bongos on the whimsically titled “Funny Noise” and the ramblings of a mad beat scientist on “Alphawave,” Überzone's created a velvet-rope dance club for the hippest robots in town. — Kristi Kates
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Kero One Presents: Plug Label (Plug Label)
On the [Kero] One[s] and twos
Ignoring producers who push the organ jazz-infused/MPC beats associated with the '90s is an arduous task when it comes to Kero One. The catalog cranked out by Plug Label is steeped in fireside soulful sound, and producer/MC Kero One's creations and selections for Kero One Presents: Plug Label pack clapping beats and string snippets (Tableek of Maspyke's “Summer in the City”) and a frequent oft-live feel, such as the Digable-esque “Yagotta (Raindrops Remix),” where Kero One backs Niamaj with cuts and a bright Rhodes melody; it's like butta, baby. — Dominic Umile
WILEY
Playtime Is Over (Big Dada)
Grime pioneer takes his last stand
Prior to releasing Playtime Is Over in the UK, Wiley announced his retirement and utter exhaustion with the grime scene. Listening to this album, this Brit MC/producer's fatigue can be all too evident. Generic hooks and frantic, undercooked beats taint boastful tracks like “Flyboy.” But when Wiley steps out of the competitive mode as heard on “Baby Girl,” he shines — in this case with inspired raps dedicated to his daughter and a perfect 2-step beat, complimented by chunky synths and a soothing flute loop. Despite being an uneven record, there's enough here to merit a listen. — Max Herman
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