just a lil dude

Why did 50 Fail?

2009-11-30T03:02:00.000-08:00

The numbers are in for Hip-Hop's most polarizing figure. After 2 weeks on the Billboard charts (and an extra week of iTunes sales) 50 Cent's new record, Before I Self Destruct, is limping by at a fairly disappointing 260'000 copies in the U.S. As humiliating as this likely is for the self-crowned Soundscan Killer, it's even more scathing that these numbers come during the biggest spending weekend of the year. With massive sales all over the U.S. Curtis Jackson was only able to pull in another 100'000 of his old fanbase. To put these numbers - which would be more than good enough for almost any other rapper - in perspective, let's look at the man's past sales figures. Get Rich Or Die Tryin' arrived amidst a wave of 50-mania, pushing 872'000 copies in it's first week. The requisite group project, Beg For Mercy, sold 377'000 without a massive single. The Massacre is the 4th fastest selling album since Soundscan began it's count, breaking the million mark within 4 days and going on to sell nearly as much as 50's debut. Even Curtis, a rightly maligned turd of a record that sold almost purely on name recognition and a much publicized sales 'battle' (read: publicity stunt gone horribly right) with Kanye West, broke close to 700'000 records in 7 days. It seems unlikely that Before I Self Destruct will ever reach those lofty heights.

Why? What seemed impossible only 2 years ago is now a forgone conclusion. 50, the man who once made so much of sales that he mocked other artists for selling only 350'000 records, isn't likely to reach any of his previous first week sales over Self Destruct's commercial life. And to be honest, there's a certain sense of schadenfreude to be had from the spectacular crash and burn of this decade's defining pop star. In the WWE world of Hip-Hop he was the villain of the week who made his enemies left and right, entertaining us and making us hate him at the same time. In the real world Curtis Jackson was a ruthless businessman who likely cost more than a few jobs through shady industry machinations. Why shouldn't he suffer some bad karma for 'getting people's shit pushed back', as he so eloquently put it?

Take away the once-savvy business mind, the image and the groundbreaking Dr. Dre beats and you're left with an average, mush mouthed street rapper who didn't deserve the level of success that he had. His three studio albums are painfully interchangeable as far as music, lyrics and content. And none of them are really anything special. There's an irreconcilable divide in 50's music that dilutes the effectiveness of both his pop and hardcore songs. On the one hand, he's a super gangster/kingpin/pimp who can only love his gun. On the other, he's a shameless romantic who painfully makes a transition to songs about the women in his life with Nate Dogg and Robin Thicke. These songs aren't thrown together haphazardly. They're the result of cynical calculations intended to bring in as many customers as possible and leaves us to wonder if there's anything 'real' to 50 Cent at all. It's difficult, to say the least, to empathize with an 'artist' who puts more market research than emotion into his music.

In terms of quality (something 50 never discussed when he had sales to boast about), Before I Self Destruct isn't particularly bad. For the most part, the music is interesting and more often than not made with an ear to detail. That's the result of working under Dr. Dre for so many years. Dre's beats demonstrate a reinvigorated mind coming out of almost half a decade of uninspired plod. But the same problems as always exist. At a certain point the album shifts gears almost entirely to radio-ready tunes and just reiterates the problem 50 Cent has had for his entire career. He's learned nothing from his peers and we've learned nothing from his music. Before I Self Destruct is a misnomer. 50 Cent never self-destructed, everyone just stopped caring.

Dizzee Rascal - Tongue 'N' Cheek

2009-09-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

I was reading a UK Hip-Hop magazine a friend lent me a few years back. A writer following Kano on his first U.S. tour (pre-London Town when Kano could still get the attention of the Mike Skinners and Diplos of the world) described the young Grime MC as potentially being the British Jay-Z, a rapper capable of toeing the line between commercial success and the hardcore credibility vicariously craved by the fans. Turns out he didn't need to look any further than one of the originators of the genre. Dizzee Rascal has experienced his share of highs and lows, the disappointing and almost criminal reception to Showtime being one of the lowest. Maths+English put his name back out there and opened a few American ears but Tongue 'N' Cheek is his real gamble for superstardom.

If Boy In Da Corner was his groundbreaking Reasonable Doubt and Maths+English showed us a flash of a more commercial Dizzee, this is surely his Hard Knock Life. Packed with big name dance producers, Mills struck gold three times before the album's release with the incredibly catchy Dance Wiv Me, Bonkers and now Holiday. A lesser man would have risked sounding like a guest on his own songs with collaborators like Armand Van Helden and Calvin Harris but Dizzee owns these songs with his cheeky vocals. They hardly demonstrate his lyrical abilities but it hardly matters when 30'000 casual music fans start singing along, word for word, at his performances. While he could be accused of dumbing down his lyrics to double his dollars, the rest of Tongue 'N' Cheek shows Dizzee in fine form, either gutturally screaming at slower drivers in Road Rage or complaining about the price of travel in London on the Reggae-tinged Can't Tek No More. The U.S. influence isn't absent either thanks to the G-Funk throwback of Chillin' Wiv Man Dem. At 11 songs the album hardly drags even if Money Money is a bit out of place after a song about young people spending cash they don't have. There's nothing as blatantly awful or tasteless as Suk My Dick either, thankfully.

It's a great compliment to Dizzee that he transitions so easily from the most willfully uncommercial Hip-Hop sub-genre in the UK to the dance mainstream. What makes Tongue 'N' Cheek so good it that it hasn't diluted Dizzee's wit or personality. And if the comparison to Jay-Z's career trajectory are accurate we hopefully haven't seen the last of the hardcore Grime MC that won the Mercury prize either. And to think, this is being released on an independent record label.

Note - If you're keen for a few snippets of what's next for Dizzee/Dirtee Stank, order this from HMV for the Foot N Mouth bonus disc.

oooh

2009-09-21T18:10:00.001-07:00

I need to write something or I'm going to suffer slow brain death. Starting now.

An open letter to Raekwon

2009-06-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

Reposted + slightly edited from SOHH forums.

Rae,

Do you take us for fools? We've put up with over 5 years of hype for a record that quite clearly isn't going to live up to anyone's expectations. When you dropped State of Grace with that RZA intro in 2005 I was as excited as any jaded Wu-Tang fan could expect to be. It came out after one of the most lowest periods of your crew's output. We got 3 terrible records and only one worth playing more than once (if you're deluded enough to think otherwise, it was Ghost.) It seemed there was no chance of getting the Clan back together for one more run. State of Grace showed that RZA still had something left in the tank. More importantly it showed that you still had something more to give the fans. You and RZA were going to give us OB4CL2. At that point I could have cared less if Michael himself were going to put out a new record. '05 ticked over to '06 and we got an incredible Scratch article where you and RZA outlined exactly what you had planned for us. We eventually heard some of the songs you showed the magazine, albeit in a different form. State of Grace and Thug World demonstrated that, for once, the Clan knew exactly what we wanted and was willing to give it to us.

After that? Nothing. A few mixtapes that were more similar to the Lex Diamond Story than this masterpiece you were promising your fans. I didn't pay them much mind, certain that you were just separating the wheat from the chaff - giving us songs you would never put on any commercially released album. At least not according to the Scratch article.

... while he'll insist the album is very rough, in its infant stages it still sounds better than anything the Clan has released post-Supreme Clientele.

That article did a better job of promoting your album than even you. After the issue came out most of us could hardly wait. Yet you somehow pulled off the impossible - damping our excitement with a series of put-offs and delays, rumors of signing to Aftermath that amounted to nothing, rumors of working with Dre that haven't yet amounted to anything, rumors of getting the entire Clan on a Dilla joint that haven't yet amounted to anything. Yet you keep giving your fans excuses for why we haven't heard the album yet. According to you it has to be perfect. It has to live up to the original. But we still haven't heard it.

Come '09 and we're still waiting. There are less of us, of course. Some have just resigned themselves to the fact that you're not going to give us the album you promised. Most are just convinced that it's not coming out at all. Out of nowhere you give us Criminology Pt. 2 with a beat by some cat called BT. While a nearly identical song isn't what I wanted out of the album it's a nice homage to the original, with a passable flip of the sample. You assured us it was nothing more than a mixtape song. That State of Grace was the only song confirmed. Even I, a notorious hater, had reason to celebrate when New Wu dropped like a bomb. August 8th was set in stone. RZA was a substantial part of the album. The stars were aligned. Then, somehow, it all fell apart in the matter of a couple of months.

Suddenly, RZA isn't the mastermind behind the record. We'll be lucky to get 4 songs by the man who gave you your career. BT, the mixtape producer who's surprisingly good at sounding like a budget RZA, is on the album. We have Scram Jones, Alchemist, Dre, Dilla - it's looking less and less like you're cooking up a sequel to Cuban Linx. Instead we're getting the generic multi-producer Hip-Hop album of 2005-2006. Maybe you can also give us a little something for the clubs? A song for the ladies? A 'well rounded' album like Fabolous is so fond of releasing to the obvious dismay of fans everywhere? But I feel that, as long as the album comes out, I can breathe again and move on.

And now that date, you know the one - the one that you said was set in stone? It's not the date anymore. No, now it's been pushed back a month. From early 2008 to Summer 2008 to Early 2009 to August 8th to September 8th. I ask again. Do you take us for fools? This isn't the way to release a record. This is a way to sink your career with the weight of expectation. Ask Axl Rose. Ask Dre. As for the sample clearance excuse? Please. We all know your new record label is behind it. We all know you're not really in control. They don't see the appeal and they've pushed it back to give you more time to promote it.

In conclusion, you blew it. Your last chance to get up there with the greats. This is Ice Cream Pt. 2 all over again with all the bells and chimes and none of the great songwriting of the original. You act like you don't need RZA but your career without him has been nothing but one bad move, one shoddy excuse, after another. Learn from your mistakes. Stop trying to create a separate legacy because it will never happen. And then maybe you'll make an album the fans can be proud to own. As for me, I'm sick of the excuses. I'm done.

Appendum: I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that your project is more Pyscho remake than Godfather Pt. II. Don't remake the Restaurant scene.

Back on my bullshit indeed

2009-04-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

It's an age old story: respected MC signs to Dr. Dre's boutique label, promises instant classic, gets held up 4 years then leaves. The shocking twist in Busta Rhymes' case is that he actually released a record, even if it was the technically proficient yet emotionally dead Big Bang. It wasn't the Busta full of pre-millennial angst that we could all count on for shit-crazy party tracks, it was the other one: the annoying bastard who showed up on every remix he could find and spat the exact same verse, every single time. He was the Samuel L. Jackson of rap without the self-decrying sense of humour.

So the Big Bang was a bust. The first single from Blessed brought a little light into everyone's lives with a return to animated, crazy form and outrageous faux-Hype Williams video. Then Busta fucked it all up and dropped a song with Linkin Park, which predictably flopped. After swapping labels and retooling the album, we got Arab Money and an inevitably disappointing rap career by Ron Browz, a song with T-Pain (because that's crazy, right? That's what the kids like?), a stock standard collaboration with Lil' Wayne and Jadakiss (a-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa) and finally World Go Round, which transcends mere awfulness with Jelly Roll's interpolation of You Spin Me Round. Not that anybody (at all) (anywhere) is talking about it, but the song exists and I'm sure it's out there on the internet if you really want to subject yourself to it. The fact that Flo-Rida already has one terrible remake of it sitting somewhere near the top of the charts aside, I feel the need to put things in perspective.

This is Busta Rhymes, not some bullshit mixtape rapper with no music history who just needs a hit. He was on Tribe records. He was one of Dilla's closest collaborators. Sure, he lost his spark after Anarchy, when the world didn't end, but he doesn't deserve the slow death that this garbage is sure to consign him too. Someone put the poor bastard out of his misery and lose the master recordings to this shit before he embarrasses himself more.

Def Jux finally gets on board.

2009-04-19T02:01:00.000-07:00

Danny! - Just Friends (Live)

Link jacked from 2DopeBoyz

Sidebar - do yourself a favour and check out Danny's wiki if you want to see the work of someone (Danny told me via okp that it wasn't him) with entirely too much time on their hands.

Shelved

2009-04-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

Thank heavens for the blog search. Without Google's infringement-enabling magic wand I'd have never bothered to look for some shelved records from the time before time, the age in which record labels ruled the world - the 90's. Last on my hitlist was Large Professor's 'LP' album from 1996, a (mostly) (I assume) self-produced record held back by Geffen Records. Never mind the logic behind shelving a record that's been recorded and likely wouldn't have gotten much promotion regardless, I'm currently stuck on the Nasty Nas-era collaboration One Plus One. If there's a shining light to the inevitable death of major label music it's that some more of these records might see the light of day.

I'm looking at you, rumoured-original-RZA-produced-but-too-grimey Tical 0.

Laneway

2009-02-09T02:10:00.000-08:00

So Architecture are 'a terrible synth pop band' according to the first two pretentiously branded hipster blogs to pop up on Google search (<3 u google blog search lol). Try having fun at a festival every now and then, you self-absorbed cunts. A little voice tells me that these are the people who can't even be bothered bobbing their heads to Jay Reatard.

clear chat history

2008-12-23T04:35:00.001-08:00

Clear Chat History
Couldn't retrieve chat history
11:08pmRoman

can your friend be himself around you?

or are you demeaning
11:09pmNatalie

or he can be himself

oh*

i enjoy the scent
11:12pmRoman

ew

you're a fartophile
11:13pmNatalie

i prefer chicken

if a monkey eats bananas all day does it's fart smell like bananas?
11:14pmRoman

maybe it already does
11:15pmNatalie

ill test it

you going away for chrissy?
11:16pmRoman

nope

maybe i'm working

i dunno yet
11:17pmRoman

what about you?
11:17pmNatalie

hmm well have fun
11:17pmRoman

gallivanting?

jetsetting?

ambling?

rambling?

gambling?
11:17pmNatalie

all
11:18pmRoman

+ debauch
11:18pmNatalie

because i can
11:18pmRoman

it's true

am I strange for liking weird americana?
11:19pmNatalie

americana?
11:19pmRoman

it's like american folk music

but psychedelic
11:19pmNatalie

haha

haha

haha

.

yes.

but i have to listen for myself first
11:20pmRoman

try animal collective

they're very weird

campfire songs
11:20pmNatalie

8)8)
11:20pmRoman

they have an album that's played in reverse
11:20pmNatalie

ok ill be downloading some now

that's odd
11:20pmRoman

and the reverse side is played the right or wrong way but sped up

and then there's a stretched portion where all the songs are played at normal speed
11:22pmNatalie

okay, now, seeing as you know every nook and cranny of this 'americana' i have decided: yes, you are weird.

It all started fine and assuring

but you took it too far
11:22pmRoman

Yeah I know
11:22pmNatalie

too far.
11:22pmRoman

one of the guys in the band is called panda bear
11:23pmNatalie

PANDA

what was that weird kids show with the panda in it?
11:23pmRoman

south park

sexual harrassment panda
11:25pmNatalie

unfortunately not

but that does bring back memoried
11:25pmRoman

DAMN IT

ANGST ANGST ANGST
11:25pmNatalie

yes memoried

i like your exclaimed anger
11:26pmRoman

I like me too
11:26pmNatalie

ha

i like me too
11:27pmRoman

that should go too too
11:27pmNatalie

no i disagree
11:27pmRoman

your face disagrees

but your heart tells a different story
11:27pmNatalie

its what is on the inside that counts

like my bowels

and ovaries
11:28pmRoman

its clogged with chocolate gold
11:28pmNatalie

ferrari rocheri

's
11:29pmRoman

dan ferrino
11:29pmNatalie

carlo mollino?
11:29pmRoman

shop at mollini
11:30pmNatalie

wearing a bikini

and bring some dolce
11:30pmRoman

sipping on daquiri

so

best stream of consciousness conversation ever?
11:32pmNatalie

dare to be different
11:32pmRoman

dare to be the same
11:32pmNatalie

dare to be indifferent
11:32pmRoman

dare to be dissident
11:32pmNatalie

the tv is moaning
11:33pmRoman

take your finger out
11:33pmNatalie

i like the vibration
11:33pmRoman

it said no
11:33pmNatalie

its okay i blind folded it

Carry on.

Space for Bloc Party, final review

2008-09-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

It's coming tomorrow, me. Be ready.

The Streets - The Escapist

2008-08-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

Either Mike Skinner is a Machiavellian genius or he's had the most stock-standard, accidental career ever. Either way, it's made for (mostly) gripping music over the past 8 years. 2006's The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living garnered mixed reviews thanks to its strangely over-the-top portrayal of fame and celebrity but now The Streets are back with The Escapist, the first single from Everything Is Borrowed. Where Hardest Way.. was full of fast paced beats, over-indulgent lyrics and Skinner's manic, uneven delivery, The Escapist is, in a word, peaceful. With his penchant for unusual rhythms, Skinner and co. keep it simple and interesting over the beat while he slowly (almost lazily) drawls about 'weeks of peace on a beach'. It remains to be seen whether he can maintain this sound over the course of an entire album without succumbing to gimmick or mediocrity - Hardest Way... works more as artistic statement than enjoyable record, after all - but The Escapist is a good first step.

The Game - L.A.X. (draft 1)

2008-08-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

It can't be easy being The Game, one of the more disturbing by-products of America's gangsta rap infatuation. After being shunned by both Dr. Dre and 50 Cent in 2005 and a series of breakup style records and disses throughout the subsequent three years, Jayceon Taylor seems to have found his new idol in Nas. Not only do they appear on eachother's most recent records, Let Us Live featuring Chrissette Michelle sounds like a lost song from the It Was Written era. He's not exactly blubbering apologetically beside Busta Rhymes (yet) but the childlike aping of Hip-Hop's elite continues to hinder Game's talent.

Game's obvious deficiencies are on show throughout L.A.X. from the borderline-moronic pick-up lines of Gentleman's Affair (Girl fuck your friends / matter of fact I want to fuck your friends positively reeks of charisma, clearly) and the consistent name and brand dropping to his insistence of remaining steadfast to the tried and true West Coast blueprint. Doctor's Advocate remains a high point in which Game engulfed himself in music that sounded more like Dre than Dre himself in an cathartic attempt to deal with the supposed abandonment of one of Hip-Hop's longest lasting, respected producers. It also caught the rapper in the midst of committing career suicide, firing scattershot disses to the then-industry juggernauts, G-Unit. Game's self-destruction was utterly fascinating and voyeuristic but also revealed that underneath the most meticulously crafted and marketed rapper since 50 Cent lay an immensely talented, spiteful MC. 300 Bars and Running still stands as one of the most scathing disses in Hip-Hop history yet the spirit behind that record never surfaces on L.A.X.. Instead we're treated by another album heavy on radio-ready singles and overwrought reflective songs like My Life that hardly sound convincing or emotional.

As much as he tries, though, Game can't help but let his attention-starved inner child shine. Dope Boys combines one of the strangest single choices in recent history (A Milli notwithstanding) with the album's sole creepy reference to Dre. Threats of home invasion are still a step up from a pseudo-breakup album, though. Bulletproof Diaries features Raekwon, Hip-Hop's fabled lost hope, combining Staten Island's 'artifact' with a bizarre, catchy beat from the under-appreciated Jelly Roll. House Of Pain and Angel step back to the G-Funk vibes of the early 90's as DJ Toomp and Kanye West provide Dre-style much better than any of his recent output. Never Can Say Goodbye puts Game's imitative qualities to good use by providing Pac, Biggie & Eazy-E style verses in describing their tragic last days. Game pays homage to, imitates and raps as his idols over the entire album and it isn't until the last song, Letter To The King (featuring a rejuvenated Nas), that he finally plays himself. Subsequently, it's the most honest song on L.A.X. and hopefully signals the start of something new.

If L.A.X. proves anything it's that Game is a master of disguise. Whether it's the reflective, violent 50 Cent-style persona of The Documentary or the vocal imitation of Dr. Dre throughout Doctor's Advocate, The Game himself only erratically displays any originality through his commercial releases. L.A.X. is an obvious attempt to capitalize on the suicidal rapper hype that helped his last album achieve success without so much as a top 10 single. Despite (uniformly) fantastic beats and a solid set of songs, L.A.X. still misses the mark on what makes the rapper so fascinating, masking his faults with a bevy of guests and singles. If he can't achieve success on his own merits The Game might as well be consigned to the same fate as G-Unit.

Bloc Party - Intimacy (3/4)

2008-08-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

draft 2

Maybe I'm not picky enough with my music. I constantly find it disconcerting that I enjoy records the majority of publications and blog intelligentsia shun. Words like overproduced mean nothing as long as the song sounds good, right? Well, maybe not. A Weekend In The City, a constant in my iPod through 2007, hasn't exactly fostered a great reputation. Flux didn't help but I still loved it. Ditto Mercury. In my own snarky way I hoped Intimacy would be full of Mercurys, a harsh lesson to Silent Alarm fans who refused to give Bloc Party the opportunity to break out of their indie-dance-rock typecasting. It's not be the complete departure into brassy rave music the lead single hints at but Intimacy is, to say the least, a surprise. By oscillating wildly between styles Intimacy is part Silent Alarm, part AWITC and then something else entirely.

draft 3

Ares is urgent in a way that underscores Intimacy's sound and its sudden announcement, with a breakbeat style rhythm and a guitar straight out of the Chemical Brothers mid-90's peak. It's loud and fast probably what people want to hear after the extensive (or overproduced, depending on who you ask) scope of Weekend. Trojan Horse displays the talent of songwriter Kele Okereke with ambiguous lines like 'used to take your watch off / before we made love / you didn't want to share our time with anyone / you used to close your eyes / when we kissed goodbye / you didn't want to see me draped with sadness'. His blind optimism is both familiar and depressing. It's not all punchy riffs and breakbeats though.
(tbc)

Bloc Party - Intimacy (2/4)

2008-08-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

General thoughts on the record. I'll try to synthesize all this into a piece later. But for now..

1. Ares - Old school, heavy dance-punk Bloc Party. I love the distorted guitars and Kele's vocals are enjoyable. He's doing that yelping thing he did heaps on Silent Alarm.
2. Mercury - It's only similar to the rest of the album insofar as it's LOUD. I still think it's an awesome tune, the layering at the end has been described by one of my friends as a clusterfuck of bad ideas and by another as sonic mastery. I'd go more towards the latter, even though I don't think its entirely necessary.
3. Halo - This is the classic Bloc Party all of their fans clamor for. They carry a great riff and the chorus is catchy. So far, so good. By this stage I'm getting the feeling that this album is gonna completely disregard Weekend In The City (which I fucking LOVE.)
4. Biko - Oh wait, there's that sound. Kele is singing more on this track. It's cute, and the little skipping-record effect reminds me of Aphex Twin, or Trent Reznor's quieter moments.
5. Trojan Horse - Bloc Party kick back into Silent Alarm guitar mode with this interesting buzz filter. If only this album was a bit longer than 10 songs. :-/
6. Signs - This reminds me a lot of the kind of music Bjork was making in the Vespertine era. The xylophone melody give the album some diversity and it's good to have a bit of a break after something like Halo or Trojan Horse.
7. One Month Off - The driving drums hold this song together. Stupid 80's style synths in the chorus stop the song from being too similar, but it's probably one of the songs I'll skip more than I play. That said, it's good. Just not as good as the other songs. And the key change at 2:53 is fucking horrific.
8. Zephyrus - I guess Kele really took the criticism of his vocals on WITC to heart. He's not been 'singing' much this album. This song starts off with the programmed drums and some harmonic vocals and gradually builds up. It's an interesting song. The harmonies, again, remind me of Bjork but this time it's her Medulla period. Not a bad thing.
9. Better Than Heaven - The latter half of the album is definitely lighter on the guitars. More synthesizers on this song. They probably could have sequenced the record a bit better but I'm not really complaining. The chorus is a nice change, it makes the song one of the most listenable on the record.
10. Ion Square - WITC mode again. Intimacy is not as epic sounding as Bloc Party's last record, I think that's what they must have been going for though. Again, they gradually layer sounds as the song becomes progressively louder. I'm liking the electronica slant to this record. Great way to end the record.

Bloc Party - Intimacy (1/4)

2008-08-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

Preliminary thoughts while flitting through the album a few times.

- Loud
- Step between Silent Alarm & WITC
- Not at all like Mercury
- Layering
- Lots of gradual build-ups
- Kele's not 'singing' so much
- Bjork

I'll spend the weekend with the record and come back with some half-arsed, pretentious attempt at serious writing on monday.

Bloc Party - Mercury/Idea For A Story

2008-08-17T04:59:00.000-07:00

It can't have been that long since A Weekend In The City but Bloc Party are already back in the studio working on their third album. Flux was a left-fielder for the group, foregoing the more polished rock sound of Weekend for a mess of electronic sounds and possibly even the dreaded autotune effect. In spite of itself (and the loss of critical darling status amongst blogs and hipsters the world over), the song is insanely catchy and warrants repeat listens. It looks like the critical backlash of the past couple of years hasn't put Bloc Party back in Silent Alarm territory either with the release of Mercury and the b-side Idea For A Story from their upcoming, as-yet untitled third album. Mercury is the more immediate of the two, evoking the same messy techno vibe of Flux. However it's also more well thought out with the horn stabs, brass and random electronic sounds used sparingly until they're piled upon each other in the songs final minute. A minor (yet interesting) note, the looping of the chorus ('Ma-me-mercury's in retrograde') and the pitching of Kele's voice might as well be a reference to Houston's chopped-n-screwed Hip-Hop scene. Idea For A Story is the better of the two songs with a beautiful electronic ~~organ~~ accordion and yet more 90's-rave style drums. It's obvious that Bloc Party is angling for something with this new sound. While the songs may for the moment sound kind of similar, I'll wait until the third album about passing judgment. On their own merits though, these songs are great despite what the majority of fans may want from Bloc Party.

Seriously though, where the fuck are the other members of the band? They must be feeling pretty left out right now.

Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul

2008-08-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

Being a relative newcomer to the world of music outside late-night Rage broadcasts and saturday morning pop playlists, my first, unknowing, exposure to the music of Isaac Hayes was probably either the Shaft remake or the heavily-sampling I Can't Go To Sleep from the criminally underrated W. Both songs caught me upon first listen. Shaft's Theme encompasses everything I know of Black music in the 70's, literally miles away from what I was hearing at the time. (Korn? Limp Bizkit? How embarrassment.) RZA didn't need to do anything to the epic Walk On By, he simply looped a minute of the now-iconic guitar line and overpowering strings while he and Ghostface dropped some of their most emotive verses. It was inevitable, then, that I'd eventually find my way to Hayes' own music and after one particularly fortuitous trip to Ten Seconds Down in 2004, I had a second hand copy of Hot Buttered Soul in my discman.

Spanning only four tracks - two covers and two originals - Hot Buttered Soul is in stark contrast to the pop sensibilities of Stax Records. Walk On By is a cover of the Burt Bacharach penned Dionne Warwick tune stretched out to 12 minutes that seem over before they even begin. By The Time I Get To Phoenix is stunning, 20 minutes of spoken word and expressive, big band trumpets that emphasize the sadness of the Jimmy Webb composition. The songs that fill out the album, the (much) shorter One Woman and Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic don't quite reach these highs but are excellent songs in their own right. The latter, especially, has fueled more than a handful of classic Hip-Hop songs with an endlessly sampled piano melody.

Hot Buttered Soul, Hayes' first solo commercial success, indirectly heralded the increasing creative control of artists over their own works. Stevie Wonder's 'classic' period followed in the early 70's along with Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield's most recognisable and accomplished works. The song lengths and slowly building melodies, more closely associated with psychedelic rock, was an indication of the then-future of black soul music. If Isaac Hayes accomplished nothing else in his life (and let's not forget Shaft or Chef), Hot Buttered Soul would have been enough to secure his legacy in music.

CSS - Donkey

2008-08-11T04:51:00.000-07:00

What happened to CSS? Maybe the constant touring finally took its toll. With the departure of Iracema Trevisan, the foursome spent time on the road recording a follow-up to the 2006 self-titled record that shot them to the level of fame they now enjoy. Cansei De Ser Sexy (‘tired of being sexy’ in Portuguese) succeeded on the strength of its charisma and playfulness as much, if not more than, the ironic sexualized image of the band. Donkey, then, should be the perfect name for a follow-up considering CSS’ unique sense of humour (think dozens of utterances of ‘bitch’ in a song about Paris Hilton). So why does half of the album sound as if a group of session musicians could have done better? The opener, Jager Yoga, is utterly forgettable in the ‘5 minutes and you don’t even remember listening to it’ kind of way. Cue a glut of heartless, boring songs about nothing I care to remember, an inspirational (!) song that doesn’t work and there’s not much merit in Donkey. All is not lost, however. The first single, Rat Is Dead, is a fantastic Pixies rocker with revenge fantasies thrown in. Left Behind, although great, is ripe for remixing. Beautiful Song and Air Painter retain the light-hearted nature of Cansei De Ser Sexy, while Move is the best of the lot, bringing synth-rock back into the CSS sound. While these songs dull the disappointment and CSS should be credited for trying new things, Donkey sounds half-finished, as if they got halfway through the recording process and decided to go with whatever they had. Although the album will undoubtedly be salvaged through remixes (a process that's already begun, mind you), hopefully next time CSS can release a fully-realised piece.

Back

2008-08-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

Writing. Something. Not sure what.

RZA as Bobby Digital in Digi Snacks

2008-07-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

It's a sad time to be a Wu-Tang fan. It's hard to see musicians you grew up admiring make such pathetically bad business moves. You can see them from a mile away, but somehow the 'entrepreneurs' that make up the Clan don't have that foresight. After torpedoing what was likely their last shot at relevance in the modern Hip-Hop world by disowning 8 Diagrams and going on a RZA-less tour (in support of... what, exactly?) Raekwon stirred up more controversy by stating that he would head the creation of a Wu-Tang album that would bring back the rawness of their early records. Six months later and the dwindling Wu-Tang fanbase got one song. Just one. Ghostface's collaboration with MF Doom has entered the land occupied by Cuban Linx 2, a magical place full of something known as bullshit. The exaggerated self-importance of the Wu-Tang Clan is depressing and pathetic in its disconnect with reality. So how does Robert Diggs, shunned by his Clansmen and seemingly alone in his new way forward, cope? Easy, he just makes another Bobby Digital album.

It's easy to see why. After the debacle of the last Clan album and the misfire that was 2003's Birth of a Prince, RZA's future in Hip-Hop seems bleak. If he's going to go out, it seems, the Abbott is going to make sure he enjoys it. From the outset Digi Snacks is an exaggerated take on what RZA and Wu-Tang brought to Hip-Hop in the 90's. The cover, a half-finished comic book representation of the B-boy himself on a Japan-themed throne surrounded by half-naked women (presumably ninja women) of all colours gives away the joke. Digi Snacks doesn't want to make any overt statements, it's a comic book adaptation of Bobby Digital In Stereo, a series of self-contained songs that complement the soundtrack style of Bobby's 1998 debut. As such, the record is disjointed and lacks the sequencing so common in Hip-Hop records (hint: strongest songs and singles at the start, reflective/struggle songs at the end and the weakest tracks padding out the middle).

The songs, then, should be judged on their own merits rather than their placement in a haphazardly laid out album, if you can call it that. Long Time Coming is a passable effort that never quite peaks. Money Don't Own Me is an album highlight, mixing a vocal sample with RZA's bluesier recent output, highlighting his strength in creating strong grooves. Digi Snacks is too scattershot and borderline-strange to remain consistent and Straight Up The Block exemplifies RZA's lack of restraint and occasional awful ideas. It's what RZA's fans have come to expect and if they can overcome the deficiencies of Digi Snacks (ie. it's not really an album) they'll enjoy it immensely. If not.. well, there's always Cuban Linx II. One day.

Old Shit

2008-07-03T04:21:00.000-07:00

Although we're all likely bumping the new N** and B*** albums from our respective corners of society here's a nice little gem from a 2nd hand record store, home of all things beautiful. Four remixes to the Wu-Tang Clan's 'Reunited', a staple of their live show and one of the group's best songs. RZA or someone at Loud Records obviously thought it would be a good idea to let some electronica artists try their hand at it and now here we are. It reminds me of how artists remixed Bjork around the same time and it's awesome - well, the last two are anyway.

Reunited Mix (Hithunter)
Reunited Mix (Westbam)
Reunited Mix (funkstörung)
Reunited Mix (Zulutronic)

Clipse - Fast Life

2008-06-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

Take two of the most talented rappers in Hip-Hop who, feeling shunned by the prodigious talent that gave them what may be the best album of 2006, tag Scott 'Why the fuck did I waste all my money' Storch to produce their big street single and what you get is Fast Life, a tacky affair in which Storch proves once again that he learned absolutely nothing under Dre. The beat, yet another cheesy take on the cheap-means-simple ethos so many producers seem to ascribe to, totters along with all the imagination of, well, a Scott Storch beat. You'd think after spending so much time under ?uestlove and Dre, the two biggest perfectionists in Hip-Hop, he'd learn to mix a nice-sounding drum track every now and then. It's not so much that Pusha and Malice themselves are the problem here. It's not like they're risking the alienation of fans by rapping about anything other than coke. I'm just disappointed that their musical future without The Neptunes seems doomed to D-Block status.

Swing and a fucking miss.

G-Unit - Terminate on Sight

2008-06-29T01:31:00.000-07:00

Does 50 Cent love Hip-Hop? Has he ever loved Hip-Hop? Judging from the countless mixtapes G-Unit have released over the years it seems pretty likely. Hilarious skits, a more-than-passing familiarity with the roots of New York Hip-Hop and, most importantly, great songs fill tapes such as 50 Cent is the Future, God's Plan and the surprising trilogy of Thisis50.com tapes. So they love Hip-Hop. Why has it never translated over to the commercially released Interscope/G-Unit/Aftermath records? Since 2003 50, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo have plumbed the depths of Dr. Dre's gangsta rap blueprint, ignoring the harsh irony of N.W.A. and the playfulness that punctuated Doggystyle for the stark 'reality' that lay on the surface of these records. 5 years on and it's evident that without the nuance and complexity of Dr. Dre's classic work, G-Unit has nothing.

Terminate On Sight is the latest in a long line of 50 Cent related records that pushes the formula established by Get Rich Or Die Trying to it's breaking point. The music echoes with Dre's far reaching influence although neither he nor any Aftermath producer has any obvious input. The album opens with 'Straight Outta Southside', the most obvious homage to G-Unit's roots to date. References to Sean Bell, gun-play and expensive liquor abound with none of the self-conscious commentary that made the original an enduring song. Lloyd Banks sounds bored. Tony Yayo sounds animated. 50 Cent sounds off-beat. Nothing much changes in G-Unit's world, it seems. The album moves along quickly with a host of Dre soundalikes (Piano Man), Timbaland soundalikes (I Don't Want to Talk About It) and, surprisingly, more Dre soundalikes (everything else). Curtis Jackson the businessman strikes again, employing a host of small-time producers who, despite their talent, churn out rough approximations of popular sounds. Unfortunately it seems this time around nobody's fooled. The singles languish in the depths of the Billboard Hot 100 and it seems, much like 2007's Curtis, that Terminate on Sight is doomed to a short life.

So what went wrong? Jackson's extreme cost-cutting measures and abuse of the gangsta rap blueprint to within an inch of it's life seem to be the main culprits in Terminate on Sight's spectacularly boring failure. G-Unit now sound like throwaway copies of themselves, rehashing the same topics over the same beats with the same style. The cover shot says it all with a highly stylized and extensively photoshopped Unit committing a false crime in a fake environment. No matter how much 50 blusters, bullshits or threatens, the public has moved on and G-Unit has been left catering to a demographic that no longer exists.

M.I.A. cancels shows, hates U.K.

2008-06-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

She probably doesn't actually hate the U.K. but she's trying. Bonnaroo was reportedly her last show ever and she's cancelled her forthcoming U.K. tour due to 'exhaustion'. Hopefully she'll still be working on her third album but you can't do M.I.A. without the insanely party-tastic live shows.

Pharrell can't actually be that bad

2008-06-11T02:10:00.000-07:00

Obviously he's proven everyone wrong with Seeing Sounds. I'll be writing up a review for it very soon but on first impression it seems like Pharrell doesn't even care about lyrics. Of course, it's hard to mind much considering how diverse and (for lack of a better word) alive N*E*R*D/The Neptunes are sounding again. It would be great to hear them bring that urgency to the acts they produce for. In fact, it would just be great in general if Chad Hugo started writing with Pharrell again. They only co-wrote four of Seeing Sounds' twelve tracks, with Pharrell pulling the rest himself. What's going on? Regardless, Pharrell is obviously doing the Neptunes sound justice - their signature bridges are back (and fucking awesome).

Post-script - If you live in Australia, never work for the big music retailers. Virgin/Sanity/HMV is a self-cannibilising, McDonalds-diet beast.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2008-06-09T01:15:00.000-07:00

Hollywood seems to be stuck in a nostalgic cycle. Sex And The City, a show-turned-film about four sex-obsessed grandmothers, is driving middle-aged women everywhere wild. Maybe after they leave the cinema they can go grab a copy of Hard Candy. The X-Files is back (what?). Comic book adaptations are even more prevalent now than they were in 2001, when all we had to worry about were the X-Men and Spider-Man. And if that weren't enough to cause a mass infantilisation of society Indiana Jones is back. It took Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas 17 years to agree on the fourth entry into the franchise and nothing much has changed.

The key to Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull is the nostalgia it banks upon to jog the minds of moviegoers. Many of us are too young to have fully understood the hype behind the Indy films but I still remember being given a copy of The Fate of Atlantis when my family had just gotten our Pentium 486 (By the way, best game ever). Ford's character is an unavoidable part of our culture and it's not surprising to see so many families fill up local cinemas to catch a viewing 2 weeks after the film opened. The opening scenes set the mood perfectly, dropping Indy in the iconic warehouse from Raiders of the Lost Ark after being kidnapped by Russians, then proceeding to throw him from one immediately recognisable backdrop to the next. I won't spoil anything for those of you who haven't seen it yet but make sure you keep your eye out when you do.

As I said, nostalgia is what carries this film. Spielberg recreated the comic-book style of the previous films as closely as possible, even disregarding many of his own accomplishments as a director since 1989 to stay true to the source material. George Lucas' story (thankfully) doesn't veer into childish sentimentality and stereotyped sidekicks. Perhaps he's realised just how bad the Star Wars prequels are. Some criticism has been leveled at the perceived outrageousness of the story - clearly, these writers have either never seen the original Indiana Jones trilogy or they've just forgotten that overblown grandstanding is what makes Indiana Jones what it (and he) is. Harrison Ford is once again the star of the film. He acts well for a film that doesn't need a decent actor. His interactions with Mutt and Marianne Ravenwood are genuine and funny. Cate Blanchett also adds to the cheesiness of the event with an awful Russian accent.

What can be said about the film that hasn't been said, though? People expected Crystal Skull to be something that it couldn't be, something new. The franchise has been built on 40's and 50's serials, it was never going to break established boundaries. What it did do, and what is still does, is provide fluffy action/comedy films that are so meticulously crafted while remaining genuine that you can't help but love them. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls is another great entry into the series. It's overblown, funny, stupid and pointless, and that's exactly what we should expect from Indy.

Madonna - Hard Candy

2008-05-29T06:42:00.000-07:00

How can I review this album? It's a tough question, considering (some of) my friends read this from time to time and I'm therefore subject to a certain amount of ridicule for admitting that anything about a Madonna album would be redeeming. I'll probably get called a gravedigger for this. Rumours will abound that I spend my work hours looking up grannywhores.com. A year and a half ago I would have probably just called Hard Candy mindless pop-loving drivel (while secretly taking the occasional song for a guilty lash) but times have changed. Everyone now knows I love garbage, and that's pretty much what the Madonna album is. And to be honest, I expected more.

The lineup sounds good enough. Take the formulaic pop grandmother out of the equation and you have the 2006 dream team of Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Danjahandz grouped with Pharrell representing the Neptunes on his lonesome. That in itself is a good enough reason for any pop fan to give the album a spin. Just don't look at the album cover while you do it. Timberlake/Timbaland/Danja put in an unusually subdued effort. Where Nelly Furtado's Loose and JT's own Futuresex/Lovesounds were fantastic (dare I say it, trendsetting) efforts, the four songs they contribute to Matron Madge's album sound closer to the awfully lazy Shock Value. Hopefully they're saving their best for Keri Hilson's album (what a minx! Her in that Love In The Club video actually shuts me up for 4 minutes). While the songs may sound uninspired, the only one without any redeeming qualities is 4 Minutes. Therefore Pharrell is left to carry the record, as Madonna is obviously a pointless entity. Pharrell sounds as good as he has at any stage this year by trading in the increasingly redundant 2005-2007 Neptunes sound for disco breaks, Senorita-style spanish guitar and the irresistible allure of his earlier, pop-loving funk. Heartbeat seems inspired by Timbaland's own techno-sampling sound, which in itself was probably based on the Neptunes' electronic funk.

I haven't said much about Madonna for a reason. She neither adds nor detracts anything from the record. Her presence is absolutely pointless. The lyrics are toss, but we knew they would be because it's Madonna and it's a pop record. Time is a cruel thing for female artists. Madonna is ridiculed for continuing to perform and tour while the Eagles, another rubbish band in their 60's, are more 'mature' for doing so. However, that doesn't mean that the templates and beats for this album wouldn't better serve a younger, better singer. Although I realise it's terribly shallow to point it out, nobody wants to hear a 50 year old woman talk about sex, parties and best friends. She's failed to pass on the torch where other female artists getting long in the tooth long ago traded in their pop credentials (and popularity) for more mature sounds. Younger artists are doing much more with the 80's revival sound - Madonna would do well to find new sounds and influences and to stop chasing her old successes with diminishing results.

That probably won't happen though.

Cut Copy “In Ghost Colours” Review

2008-05-18T03:48:00.000-07:00

It can’t be long before grunge music is back in fashion, judging by the plethora of post-punk revivalists flooding the market at the moment. Sydney band Cut Copy are pioneers of the revivalist movement, predating the exploding Australian electro scene with 2004’s Bright Like Neon Love. The soft, effortless album echoed New Order and Daft Punk, weaving together post-punk and modern dance in a way that has been endlessly replicated since. As the international standard bearers for Australian electro-rock, In Ghost Colours has a lot to live up to and kicks off by immediately setting itself apart from their debut from the first track. More vibrant and urgent than ’Future’ which was intoxicating in its laid back tone, ’Feel the Love’ sets the tone for the entire record with cheeky house influenced synthesizers and filtered vocals. The layering in the song is a common
theme throughout the album and shows just how much effort front man Dan Whitford has put into crafting a coherent and immersive record. In Ghost Colours has a tendency to bleed from one track to the next if you don’t pay attention – the mood is merely so soothing, and the record so consistent, that only by focusing was I able to pick out what I considered to be the better songs. Far Away and Nothing Lost, Nothing Found blur the line between Cut Copy’s rock and house influences with the signature keyboard synthesizers and endlessly layered vocal samples combining with thick basslines perfectly. It isn’t, however, a perfect album. First single Lights & Music jumps the shark by being more annoying than 80’s kitsch and the one minute interludes blend the songs together too well, leaving no room to breathe. Regardless, In Ghost Colours is one of the best releases of the year and Cut Copy have proven they’re not yet another one-album indie band plaguing the world.

Is it In Ghost Colors in America? I despise Microsoft Office continuously reverting to U.S. English. It’s colours, you fucking automaton

Tomorrow I rant about Madonna and how she’s a crusty old demon sent to destroy Timbaland’s (already suspect, thanks Onerepublic) reputation

Really need to stop being lazy

2008-05-07T05:05:00.000-07:00

So, Iron Man review (Cut Copy + Madonna + Roots coming THIS weekend. Honest.)

We've been seeing the 3rd (or 4th?) comic-book invasion of Hollywood for almost a decade now. There have been some great films, some middling and occasionally confusing films and more than a few clunkers. Iron Man presents something of a gamble on the part of Marvel Films and Paramount in that all the other comic book films thus far have focused on iconic characters of Marvel lore - non-comic fans and those of us who only read them as younger children recognise the likes of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man fairly readily. It appears, however, that Iron Man is possibly the most interesting super-hero to have ever made the leap to film. The character of Tony Stark is a normal man turned hero, more similar to Batman than any of the aforementioned crowd draws. It's surprising, then, that Iron Man has managed to make such a sudden impact, earning (almost) $100'000'000 in its first weekend in the American and Canadian box office. And honestly, even though we all love and overrate superhero films, it's well deserved. The film plays itself off well and not at all as seriously as one might think. Gwyneth Paltrow clearly enjoys the almost-pointless role of Pepper Potts (best name for a character ever?) and pulls off an enjoyable, vapid performance. I half expected Jeff Bridges to ask Robert Downey Jr. if he knew who he was, only to assert that he was in fact The Dude. That might be my mental typecasting of Bridges but there was no real motivation for Obidiah Stane. And while it's the low point of the film it doesn't detract all that much from the whole. After all, this is an origin story. Robert Downey Jr. perfectly plays Tony Stark, the single-minded industrialist-turned-hero and successfully humanizes the role by bringing a lazy charm to his witty character. After seeing the film, you'll believe that nobody else could play Iron Man. The pacing is excellent and perfectly planned with only minor dry spots disrupting the flow. Along with the only half-serious acting comes the cheeky in-jokes that litter Marvel's films; the Stan Lee cameo, the reference (and foreboding) of S.H.I.E.L.D. and best of all Terrence Howard's very cheeky War Machine reference. Iron Man succeeds where Fantastic 4 failed in actually being fun to watch, and it could be the best superhero film since Spider-Man 2. Now it's only 1 year and 358 days until the next chapter. Can't wait.

I unleash my music thoughts in a weekend extravaganza

2008-04-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

Spectacular-r-r-r-r-r-r-r

Friday - Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (Finally)
Saturday - The Roots - Rising Down
Sunday - Madonna - Hard Candy

I was all geared up to do a rant on old Madge too, until I heard the album.

CASIO SEX PART ONE

2008-04-13T04:09:00.000-07:00

Five or so years after making their debut with Blow Up – among an assortment of other EP’s and singles that I was too young to follow – The Presets are back with Apocalypso, their post-breakthrough record and the second serving in what promises to be a good year for Australian dance. Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes return from their three year ‘break’ from Beams (during which Hamilton co-wrote a large part of Silverchair’s last record and Moyes, also a member of the Bang Gang Deejays, worked under the solo alias K.I.M.) essentially the same as when they left. The songs are fuller, with tracks like ‘A New Sky’ exposing a slightly more experimental bent while ‘Yippiyo-Ay’ proudly wears its Prince influence on its sleeve, but for the most part the duo sticks to what they know, further refining their sound and hardly treading outside their comfort zone. Why throw away a good thing so soon, though? The strength of Apocalypso lies in the songs which build on the momentum of Beams’ best moments. Synthesizers blare and squeal through the record with few somber moments – although ‘Aenones’ is a highlight – and Hamilton’s vocals and lyrics while still embarrassingly forward (thankfully), complement the sounds of Apocalypso perfectly, especially the unintelligible vocal samples that kick off ‘Together’. The duo’s influences range across several decades, from Prince to Daft Punk. Even the 90’s rave aesthetic is present in ‘This Boy’s In Love’ which, far from coasting on a sense of nostalgia, maintains a sharp focus resulting in a catchy and surprisingly sentimental pop track. And that’s where Apocalypso differs from its predecessor. Where Beams broke through to the Australian mainstream in the unsure early wave of electro, this record finds its sound firmly rooted in the pop landscape where established acts like Kylie Minogue and Timbaland have appropriated the sounds and creators of electro for their own use. While it won’t have the same impact as their debut, Apocalypso remains a great statement of popular Australian dance music that doesn’t indulge in sophomoric excess.

PART 1.5 - THE SEXING

The Presets - This Boy's In Love (K.I.M. Remix)

Newcastle is full of bogans.

2008-03-24T06:22:00.001-07:00

I never thought there was much of a difference between people from Sydney and Newcastle but there you go. That said, it was great to meet such honest people, regardless of how hard they are to understand.

I also may have a crush on two very, very poppy songs. Leave It Alone by Operator Please and Kiss, Kiss by Chris Brown (and T-PAIN!) pretty much dominate my playlist right after the new Cut Copy album. Review soon.

Timbaland is a thief?

2008-03-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

More accusations of Timbaland using samples without providing due credit.

I'm lazy so I'll just rehash the points I made in the thread.

[on Courtship Dating/Ayo Technology]
"It seems like Timbaland sampled the 8-bit sounding melody line, changed the pitch slightly and chopped it up a bit for Ayo Technology. While it isn't strictly biting/theft, because the songs are still different, shouldn't he have to give credit to Crystal Castles? After all, Ayo Technology was a successful song built off the back of another song by a relatively young group. They could use the credit."

[On Timbaland's looped beats]
"Timbaland essentially did with these indian/middle eastern samples what heaps of 90's producers did with soul music. The problem I have with it is that he's not giving credit. At least when producers give credits for their lazy ass loop jobs we know who's actually creatively responsible for that catchy melody. By not crediting, Timbaland is making himself out to be this incredibly creative musician when he's really got nothing but an ear for obvious samples.

What I want to know is how his productions actually take a team to put together. If so many of them are just loops over his own beats, what's the other producer doing? For that matter, if the other producer is making the beats, what's Timbaland doing?"

[On improper credit/royalties]
"By not crediting and by not acknowledging the original samples, Timbaland is a thief. What's worse is he samples internet musicians, modern musicians who are much more inventive than he is and foreign musicians who could use the credit and the subsequent co-writing checks. Not only is Timbaland a thief, he's greedy too."

"One of the points I was kind of trying to make with the topic is that Timbaland is the same as other Hip-Hop producers. He isn't nearly as special or groundbreaking as he makes himself out to be. But then, just because Timbaland has an incredibly high opinion of himself doesn't excuse him from giving credit. And I think the original writers of these songs deserve credit, and royalties, for Timbaland so blatantly sampling their music. He hasn't gone to the effort of hiding the sample so he should be paying for that. Instead he's managed to rack up a lot of hits with 'stolen' music and he's kept most of the money.

Basically, he's living off other people's work and that's pathetic."

Read the whole thread. It's quite interesting seeing what people think of Timbaland and whether or not he's actually 'stealing beats'.

On a sidenote, the Last Shadow Puppets single - The Age of The Understatement - is awesome. The spaghetti western flavour of the tune is fantastically catchy.

More new RZA

2008-03-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

The man known as Bobby Digital is back with another offering from the upcoming Digi Snax. This time Monk, a member of Wu-Tang sub-group Black Knights, and Thea, one of RZA's European acts, guest on a cover of the classic GZA/Genius song. Much more interesting than You Can't Stop Me Now, Drama is simple yet intricately pieced together - a simple piano melody backed by nice, clear drums and (another) funky guitar outro. Thea steals the show with a great voice. I can't quite pick it, but it sounds something like Chrisette Michelle mixed with Beth Gibbons. Still, one to look out for. Digi Snax should be out around August on Koch Records.

mpFUN- RZA w/ Monk & Thea - Drama

sidenote - It seems like Robert Diggs is taking control of his (probable) post-Wu career - of all the Clan members to branch out since 2001, RZA has put out the most interesting projects next to Ghostface. For those who missed them, be sure to check out the Afro Samurai soundtrack & 2003's The World According to RZA.

super duper - If you can find a copy of Fannypack's sophomore album get it. It's great. I'll upload a couple of choice songs soon.

3: Thoughts

2008-03-09T21:20:00.000-07:00

Sitting in my lecture hall waiting for some b-movie to start, what better time to start formulating thoughts on Portishead's long (long) overdue Third/3?

It's been a while since we've heard Beth Gibbon's cheery vocals and upbeat lyrics. Portishead's wildly underrated self-titled sophomore record, despite being a better album than Dummy, got a relatively lukewarm reception that appeared to have effectively ended Portishead's career. 11 years later, we get Third.

Where once they delved into obscure soul and string samples over low key rhythm tracks wherein Beth Gibbons was the star of the show with her beautiful but tortured voice and lyrics, the new album sees her play down her vocals to a near-whisper. Instead, the listener gets Portishead's signature sound distorted and twisted by drum machines and synthesizers. Synths have always been a part of the band's sound, albeit much more prominent this time, but the new drums introduced in a few of the tracks serve to throw off expectations. The bass heavy We Carry On sounds like a logical continuation of Portishead's change in direction from the debut, reminiscent of Elysium. Machine Gun however is closer in form to Nine Inch Nails than Portishead. That's not the only surprise. Deep Water is one of the most outwardly bittersweet songs the trio has ever crafted, exhibiting a sole guitar and Gibbons' singing (and some distorted - and disturbing - backup singing to boot).

Much like they did in 1997, Portishead's new album disregards expectations . It's both a departure from and a continuation of the sound that made Portishead one of the best bands of the early British Hip-Hop movement. It doesn't adhere to any set formula, mixing a variety of styles yet remaining grounded in what can be considered Portishead's sound. While it could have, and probably should have, been released in 2000, Third has the makings of a timeless record and is a fine addition to Portishead's catalogue. Here's hoping they don't take 11 years for the next one.

8.8/10

B-O-B-B-Y-D-I-G-I-T-A-L... Digitaaaal

2008-03-07T20:42:00.000-08:00

RZA, who might be the only member of the Wu-Tang Clan that I bother to check up on these days (okay, Method Man too.) just dropped a couple of new pieces of what I imagine are concept art and a new track on his myspace page. The track, Can't Stop Me Now, appears to be a song that was cut from 8 Diagrams. It's one of the funkier guitar tracks RZA's recorded. The song features a verse by Inspectah Deck and what sounds like a little homage to ODB's signature warble.

A new Bobby Digital album presumably called Digi Snacks is dropping sometime this year on Koch records after the Achozen project. It features a lot of RZA's little corner of the Wu-fam world, including the Black Knights, Kinetic 9, Rev. William Burke and more.

Post-it Bonus Method Man & Redman - Broken Language 2008

Great track. It's more a buzz thing or a freestyle but if these two can keep themselves sober enough to actually put out an album I'll be happy. I might just do a Wu-Tang day or something next week where I put up a bunch of rare shit.

2008-03-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

Drip.

Review/Thoughts once I've absorbed it all.

Bonus times
M.I.A. - Unreleased, Remixes & B-sides (self explanatory, really - it's all tagged from which period it came from)

Eat One Tossers

2008-03-06T22:26:00.000-08:00

Chicago rapper Serengeti is releasing an expanded and re-mastered version of 2006's Dennehy in a couple of weeks. This guy has twice the talent Lupe Fiasco thinks he has. Check him out.

To my knowledge, he's got another 2 coming out this year besides Dennehy. One is the sequel to Noodle Arm Whimsy, the whackiest shit ever. March 19th, Dennehy re-release. Get it from Audio8. Or if you actually live in Chicago, I dunno. Go and ask him or something.

Super fun
mp3 Derek In Paris (from Dennehy)
mp3 Lately I Haven't Been Feeling Well (from Don't Give Up)

Super sidenote
I actually liked Gasoline Rainbows, despite the horrific mixing/mastering job. I actually have to turn down the bass on Maria.

Practicing my writing.

2008-03-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

Snoop Dogg - Ego Trippin'

Hip-Hop's notoriously short attention span doesn't spare many. To avoid the fates of such Hip-Hop icons as Guru & Jeru The Damaja - and most of the other rappers who were around in the early to mid-90's - many of these now old-school rappers (you all know who they are) rely on producers, controversy and current trends in order to stay relevant. These attempts to stay ahead of the curve often fail but there are three artists who have managed to sidestep the inevitable long enough to stay popular: Jay-Z, Nas and Snoop Dogg. Despite the middling quality of most of their albums these three remain on our lists and we maintain hope that maybe, next time, they'll make something worth our while. While Jay-Z makes Reasonable Doubt again (& again) and the verdict is still out on Nigger until April, Snoop makes what might be considered a risky career move by discarding his gangsta persona in favor of the Bishop Magic Don Juan-lite with Sexual Eruption, his latest top 10 single.

Calvin Broadus' last effort, 2006's Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, was another chapter in his self-comandeered late career resurgence that began with Paid Tha Cost To Be Tha Bo$$. That record brought back old fans who were disappointed with his recent work by bringing in Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. along with pretty much the rest of the early-mid 90's West Coast mainstays. On Ego Trippin' Snoop swings to another extreme of his work. All the regulars are here - Kurupt provides adlibs for the Quik-produced Press Play, Charlie Wilson pops up here and there, Raphaael Saadiq, Pharrell & Terrace Martin are back and Teddy Riley's along to provide even more funk, as if Snoop needs it. Playing it safe, as it were, is how Snoop Dogg has maintained his popularity and he stays clearly within his comfort zone on Ego Trippin'. Far from being a fault, for the most part Snoop plays to his strengths and only takes baby steps into unfamiliar territory (see: My Medicine). The Prince/Troutman influence covers Ego Trippin', from the synthesizers and autotune on most tracks to the (fantastically done) Time cover, Cool. The continuous refinement of style and sound every record might create redundant themes but Snoop is a master of keeping listeners interested. Once my interest started waning slightly at Life Of Da Party, Waste of Time kept my ears perked. It's rare to hear Snoop open up even a little bit so this touch of honesty is greatly appreciated. At 21 tracks however, the album starts to lose steam about halfway through and most of the final quarter could have been cut. A common criticism of Snoop's work, really, and one I'm sure he doesn't care about. After all, the skip button is there for a reason.

What score, then, should I give this record? It's another success and a nod to Snoop's ear for good music. It sounds however like I've heard it all before, and in fact I have - on the very unappreciated Paid Tha Cost. And on Top Dogg, and R&G and every other album since 1999. Snoop (and Jay and Nas) aren't young anymore. While they may remain successful through controversy and extracurricular ventures the music has somehow remained stagnant. Tha Blue Carpet Treatment was the near perfect portrayal of Snoop's sound and Ego Trippin' is a good record but it's beginning to sound overdone.

6.9/10

Bonus mp3: Snoop Dogg ft. Robyn - Sexual Eruption (Remix)

New Music Day

2008-02-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

The Andi & George Band

It's not exactly 'new' as they've been getting some attention recently with their debut album from September (maybe?) but The Andi & George Band are an incredibly talented group of Canberra-based musicians who, to put it bluntly, make some cool shit. The singers/songwriters (surprisingly enough, Andi & George) are blessed with astoundingly unique singing voices and shitloads of talent. Songs like Soon It Will Be Green Again sound just as good with a flute and two guitars as they do on record and lyrically you can't go past a song about eggs and bacon for breakfast - one I unfortunately can't find a studio recording of. Their sound fits somewhere between folk, jazz and dub with a lot of Latin music influences floating about. The self-titled debut is music to chill out to. It's sunny-day-fuck-off-to-the-beach stuff and I can imagine some people finding it boring but there's an abundance of style on the record that's kept me listening. And I can't say enough good things about them live.

If you're not convinced go ahead and snag the first song from their album. I hope they don't mind me putting it out there.

The Andi & George Band - Soon It Will Be Green Again

Sidenote - Good Vibrations sucked. Kanye West was great, loved the theatrics. The sound was awful in the Roots tent so I could barely hear Cypress, but Thievery Corporation & Pharoahe Monch made it worthwhile enough. If the organizers don't work out the problems with the size of the venue (too small) and the sound I'll just be hitting the sideshows next year. Apparently Cypress & Monch were much better on Wednesday night.

Post-sidenote - I was also gonna talk about Me And The Grownups, the band that launched their album at the Basement in Sydney last night (who Andi & George (and Lina)) were supporting but I haven't been able to get a hold of their album to give it a closer listen. As soon as I do I'll write them up.

Pre-Good Vibes One-off Rant

2008-02-15T05:32:00.000-08:00

Forget the last idea. It sucked.

"Still not great album, but its getting bumped.."

"Am I the only one who thinks Finding Forever and Be are Comm's MOST/Best Solid Albums!"

Hip-Hop fans (and to a certain extent music fans in general) are susceptible to severe cases of idol worship. One only needs to look at the now legendary poster Galvatron and his SOHH (by no means a site indicative of most Hip-Hop fans.. I hope) posts solely supporting, endorsing and defending 50 Cent and whoever happens to be on G-Unit at that specific time. There's no telling whether the poster is a hoax getting his kicks from seeing a plethora of angry arguments to every post or if he's actually a 30+ year old black man with a child who worships a celebrity 5 years his junior but one aspect of this situation that is certain is the growth of like-minded defensive fans in the genre. Reading through a couple of the posts I linked regarding 50 Cent's last (critically and commercially panned) LP Curtis I'm surprised by the willingness of these fans to give it a chance despite dismissing it out of hand upon its release. Is it really an album worth a second listen if, as the thread-starter admits, it's still only mildly entertaining? Maybe it's 50 Cent's image as a hit-maker and sex symbol that entices people to go back to such a disappointing record as this one.

By no means am I immune to this double standard in judging music, and I think most music listeners are probably more willing to give their preferred musicians the benefit of the doubt when they make a disappointing album. I've given the Wu-Tang Clan a lot of chances over the past few years, and while they've consistently met my expectations - No Said Date, Fishscale, 8 Diagrams & the Afro Samurai Soundtrack constitute one of the top tiers of Hip-Hop in the last 5 years, after all - a lot of the solos have frankly sucked and I've argued for most of them at one time or another. Why is it that the image of Hip-Hop acts is so intricately tied to our enjoyment of their art?

In the end, it's this image that is probably holding Hip-Hop back. Creative artists like Ghostface make records secure in the knowledge that their in-built fanbase will keep them afloat, yet - if I'm to understand a couple of Ghost's interview statements correctly - they're hindered by the expectations of that fanbase for them to remain stagnant and therefore their music can't grow with them. Back to 50 Cent though. He didn't really do anything differently on Curtis, except strip his music down to the bare essentials of what he thought his fanbase wanted - sex, guns and hood stories. It obviously didn't resonate with audiences or critics, who flocked to Kanye West last year. So why do some people insist on defending his record? I could understand if they genuinely liked it but if a record "isn't great", why not just go back to the music that made them fans in the first place? Unfortunately that doesn't seem like a possibility in a music genre that shuns its elders and gorges on one hit wonders and ringtone rappers that will be forgotten in a year.

I'm still unsure as to what to do with this blog. I might just use it to practice my writing and rant, maybe a couple of reviews here and there.

Also, Erykah's new video is awesome. New Amerykah comes out in 10 days. Get it.

Pre-Good Vibes post, part 1

2008-02-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

Good Vibrations Sydney is happening on Saturday so in honour of what was my first festival ever the next 2 days will be full of Good Vibes-ish fun.

Good Vibrations 2007 was my first festival and sealed my chronic festival-related money shortages throughout the rest of the year. We cut costs the traditional Australian way (pre-drinks on the bus and the cheapest beer imaginable - Victoria Bitter) and spent the day catching as many acts as possible (Snoop Dogg's surprise performance, The Beasties & Mix Master Mike fucking up their sound equipment and Jurassic 5's farewell performance) and trying not to succumb to the stupidly hot temperature. In retrospect it wasn't the best festival of the year - that honour goes to Splendour In The Grass - but it was still memorable. This year Kanye West & Cypress Hill headline with Lyrics Born playing the role of host. While he won't be performing, LB has a new album coming out this year under Epitaph/Anti-/Quannum Records. First single Hott 2 Deff recently leaked and as expected it's a corker.

Lyrics Born ft. Chali2na - Hott 2 Deff

Mixtape Tuesday

2008-02-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

The new G-Unit and Re-Up Gang mixtapes leaked today. Both are pretty good, but obviously I'm giving the nod to Clipse here. Still, the G-Unit one isn't bad considering Tony Yayo is a part of it. Looks like the rumours about a rift between G-Unit & Young Buck was true, the latter's verse is cut out of Feel Good (probably one of the more boring parts of the mixtape). 50 Cent is a surprise, he's bounced back well after Curtis. Lloyd Banks is close behind, he's definitely more interesting these days.

50 Cent & Tony Yayo - The Mechanic
Re-Up Gang - Rainy Dayz

Hot Chip - Made In The Dark

2008-02-03T01:11:00.000-08:00

Thank you, all-inclusive press promo courtesy of teh internets.

Another winner from Hot Chip. First single Shake A Fist had me thinking that the crew would be moving further away from the space pop of Coming On Strong but the sound of Made In The Dark is just as much a departure from The Warning. The reverb guitar at the start of One Pure Thought threw me off until the keyboard melody kicked in. Their sense of humour is still there, but Hot Chip are slightly more serious this go round. My favourite part about the group is that they use a wide range of instruments and drumkits in their music. Their songs are rarely similar to each other, and as evidenced by the electric/acoustic versions of Boy From School they could probably play the songs 5 different ways and they'd still be great.

Anyway, what happened to that Fannypack group? I had a vague interest in them back in 2004 but they haven't really made waves since then. I might have to find that second album they released in 2005. One of the chicks is apparently in a band called Holy Hail.

Holy Hail - Born Of A Star

I don't hate it. In fact, I may even grow to love it.

Top 10 Records of 2007

2008-01-16T17:54:00.000-08:00

Serengeti & Polyphonic - Don't Give Up
I don't really recall how exactly I came across Serengeti. It was either late 2005 or early 2006 and I somehow found a review of Noodle Arm Whimsy. I ordered the record from MF Grimm's label website and three months later it arrived. I still don't know whether to laugh or cry when I hear the album. Since then he's released about 6 albums under a variety of labels, each one weirder and slightly more depressing than the last. Don't Give Up is the most recent and probably the best of the lot. Teaming up with Polyphonic, a multi-faceted producer (who also worked on the excellent Juba Dance record) was obviously a good move for Geti King who moves through tracks that straddle the line between IDM, Hip-Hop and straight out indie soul. Definitely worth a shot.

Daft Punk - Alive 2007
We all know I'm only putting this here because I saw them play their last pyramid show and it was fucking awesome. I resisted the temptation to listen to this until after the concert and I can still picture the pyramid on stage, the insane amount of people getting into it, the rush that came from hearing the Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger melody underlying Face To Face and the pretentious Australia's Next Top Model yelling at my friend for accidentally bumping into her - because that doesn't happen in a 50'000 strong crowd, not at all. Regardless of how much Daft Punk love on the internets and in the Sydney cool crowd can be attributed to their recent Pitchfork stamp of approval (who have never given them great marks for their studio albums) and the rise of Human After All devotees Ed Banger. All of that adds to the mystique of Daft Punk's live show but it doesn't take away from the fact that this is a quality record.

Spank Rock & Benny Blanco are Bangers & Cash
MC Spank Rock's impeccable voice, flow and rhymes combined with old N.W.A. and 2 Live Crew samples, there's not really much else to say. If Spank Rock, Amanda Blank & Santogold manage to drop albums this year they might actually get noticed by the kind of Hip-Hop fans that love arguing about riveting issues like Souljah Boy vs. GZA.

U.G.K. - Underground Kings
It's always a shame when a talented musician passes away. For all of Pimp C's arrogance and big statements his music always spoke louder. UGK isn't a perfect album. It's overlong and as is now standard for a Hip-Hop double album there's an over-abundance of guests. The problem in this argument is that almost every track is great so you can cherry-pick if you can't sit through the entire record. The guests, of which there are many, shine. Dizzee Rascal steals the show on Two Types of Bitches while Pimpin' Ken pulls off a George Clinton-esque level of rant. Interestingly, the very next track is a Can't Hide Love sampling Talib Kweli aided ode to at least one of those types of bitches. So what's the problem with the album? Nothing, really. Except that Pimp C's dead now, so we'll probably never hear another one.

Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Super happy fun slide!

Grinderman
Don't ask me why I haven't gotten into Nick Cave earlier, because I've got no good answer. Even Raekwon would respect that man's moustache. I don't want to delve too much into the music. It's worth a listen. Everything fits together.

Architecture In Helsinki - Places Like This
More giddy fun, but slightly more disturbing than Friend Opportunity, Places Like This marks a bold shift from what could be considered Architecture's breakout record. Rough guitars, drum machines and Cameron Bird's much harsher 'new' sound are superimposed over the soft indie-pop stylings of In Case We Die to create something that didn't resonate with a lot of bloggers and critics. While I too was dismissive at first one by one the songs attached themselves to my iPod playlist until the whole album came together. Definitely a grower and hopefully an indication of what's going on with Australian music.

Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
Amazon's listing of this record (Wu-Tang Clan & The RZA) is spot-on. While you won't hear anyone except Meth keep the Wu-Tang name out there more than RZA he's musically transcended the space the Clan once occupied in Hip-Hop. Where Ghostface stuck to what the fanatical cadre of Wu-fans know and love on his recent Big Doe Rehab (which, honestly, should have been better) the first Clan album in 6 years has RZA pulling further and further away from what made him - and the Clan - famous in the first place. The Kung-Fu samples make a welcome return and opener Campfire immediately brings to mind RZA's Hip-Hop peak in 2000 but nothing else is the same. Musically, 8 Diagrams is the bastard child of Forever & The W with no sign of the straightforward funk and soul of Iron Flag to be seen. RZA struggles to find a balance between his experimental streak and his obligation to the fans and the other members in crafting an album that can still be called Hip-Hop, layering traditional 4 and 8-bar loops and beats over intermittent slap bass, violins, spaghetti western whistles and war drums in what seems to be an effort to keep him interested. The results are musically rich and consistently fantastic - if only we could say the same for the rapping. The public bickering between members over money, creative input and release dates spills over into the record and destroys any illusion of unity and we're left with nine talented rappers who can't seem to cohere on more than a couple of songs (like standout 'The Heart Gently Weeps'). RZA might be the Abbot of the Clan but they're obviously not interested in learning anything else from him. The result is, of course, an incredible yet flawed album, difficult to digest at first yet eventually opening up and revealing the true depth of the Clan's talent.

M.I.A. - Kala
This was always going to be album of the year. We've all heard Bird Flu, Boyz & Paper Planes but the depth of the rest of Maya Arulpragasam's sophomore effort is staggering. It's a statement, a party, a circus and a confessional all in one package. I can't say anything about the album that hasn't been said already, so I'll leave it at this - a hipster British artist managed to eclipse everyone's expectations, by accident. What started out as a pop album with Timbaland ended up being a tour of the post-colonial world, held even less commercial appeal than Arular and ended up being one of the best albums of the decade.

Let's get this paper

2008-01-16T05:06:00.000-08:00

So a good friend of mine suggested I start a blog to spew forth my own pretentious delusions regarding music.

I was going to put down my thoughts on Lupe's album but they dragged when I looked back on them. Here's a condensed version.

Lupe's an asshole with talent, kind of like Mos Def & Kanye West but without the commercial appeal those two arrogant pricks command. Food & Liquor was okay but boring (and was nowhere near the best albums list of 2006) and The Cool continues Lupe's tradition of self indulgent lite-hop, regardless of his obvious lyrical talents. Sometimes it works - the sly nod to Fiascogate that is Paris/Tokyo, the fantastic allusions to It Was Written in the form of Gotta Eat and Gold Watch and the concession to the pop-punk crowd by hooking up with that dude from Fallout Boy who's not-Pete Wentz (it turns out the fat guy can make a great Hip-Hop beat) but most of the other songs collapse under their own bullshit pretensions. Considering this and Lupe's first album, LupEND being his supposed last is both a blessing and a curse for us Hip-Hop fans. If it turns out to be the final album of this loose trilogy at least we'll be spared years of Lupe's self-serving shit (ala U2) and we'll be able to remember him for his sporadic talents. Unfortunately that's also the problem, because once you strip away the man's delusions of being a major label executive (and trust me, the 1st & 15th artists don't help The Cool at all) and a pompous twit, he really is talented. He just needs the discipline a talented executive producer can bring to the table, and neither Lupe nor his drug dealer bumchum Chilly have that discipline.

By the way, if you're really that close with Jay-Z & Kanye West just ask one of them to get Chris Martin into the studio with you. At least then you'll have a name you can attach to garbage singles like Superstar instead of talentless soundalike Matthew Santos. The man looks like a retarded version of that guy from Linkin Park (by the way, he's not on this album. I guess Linkin Park just aren't cool anymore) with Morrissey's old haircut. Get rid of him and stop playing businessman because there's no place for that bullshit in Hip-Hop anymore.