Posted on 08/14/2009
If charm were everything, The Pepper Pots would be huge. They make relentlessly upbeat soul that recalls, or rather rips off, the likes of The Supremes, Dusty Springfield and every good song written by Holland/Dozier/Holland. And you’ve got to admire a group who have the stones to call a record that wears its retro heart on its sleeve Now! But no matter how beautiful The Pepper Pots’ music, no matter how impeccably it’s performed, it lacks that one vital ingredient that their inspirations had in spades: soul.

Posted on 08/14/2009
He may be from Inglewood, California, but Shawn Chrystopher sounds more like a mix of Lupe Fiasco and Kanye West than someone you would expect from the city that has been known in hip-hop as the place where you do no good. But Chrystopher is making attempt to do good for himself by relying on a few trusted formulas to become a success. A City With No Seasons is the end result and with the formula he is using, he is definitely finding some success.

Posted on 08/11/2009
Most of Cage’s latest solo album was constructed in collaboration with one producer, F. Sean Smith; liner notes and certain lyrics suggest the MC had lived with him during the time of recording. The musical character of Depart From Me… reflects these insular circumstances, stretching much of the album into something distinct from the house sound of Definitive Jux, Cage’s label. Although a significant amount of electronic instrumentation, the kind of which might traditionally be associated with Def Jux, remains present, there are also a number of song structures, vocal styles, and instrumentation choices that evoke something closer to a punk rock aesthetic. The balance of hip-hop, electronics, and rock results in something a little different than previous Cage releases, and it seems unlikely that this shift would not isolate certain segments of Cage’s existing audience, but the album is also focused and sincere enough to warrant more than a reflexive rejection due to an evolution in style.

Posted on 08/11/2009
The days of trying to break into the hip-hop game as the cautiously hip, alternative rapper are over. The over-abundance of thugged-out supermen that clogged up the genre just a few years ago with the likes of 50 Cent and Lil Wayne produced a wave of artists who unequivocally embraced their fears and insecurities - despite wrapping them up in a guise of dope clothes and fly swagger to compensate for it. The rest is history: Kanye West outsold 50, Wayne picked up a guitar and got deep, and the list of like-minded new-wave artists - Kid CuDi, Lupe Fiasco, Wale, etc.- pushed and shoved their way into the game to get a piece of the suddenly larger pie. Nowadays, you need to do more than put on a designer hat and rap about being misunderstood to make yourself original. Johnny Polygon falls into that crowd, but with his debut EP Group Hug, he only somewhat manages to stand out.