Posted on 05/07/2009
On the surface, Phil The Agony’s latest album looks like it might be more about ideas than music; the first things you encounter are a title and cover art derived from a well-worn catch phrase and recycling icon, respectively. Listening to the album resolves these doubts favorably - although the environment is a topical undercurrent and genuine concern throughout, it is not the only subject, and when it is...

Posted on 05/07/2009
Two years ago I had reviewed Black Moth Super Rainbow's previous album, Dandelion Gum, and gave it an incredible review. Pretty good for something I initially didn't know how to describe. This time they put their sonic splendor in the hands of an outsider, and the end result becomes yet another adventure in trying to discuss something that should not be spoken of, but heartfelt, and inhaled. ...

Posted on 05/07/2009
Enter the 37th Chamber is the anticipated full-length selection of Wu-Tang interpretations from El Michels Affair, a collective of studio and session musicians whose work has extended into several hip-hop and soul acts of recent years. Here, the group has distilled the instrumental essence from a handful of classic Shaolin productions, resulting in a kind of Wu-Tang dub. Raw drums and skeletal piano melodies create instant waves of...

Posted on 05/07/2009
Okay, I get it: Chester French is some sort of post-hip hop Steely Dan. (Album cover with an Asian woman: check. Highfaluting reference in band name: check) I’ve learned to love the Dan, but I used to really hate those guys. Well, you know what? I can’t stand Love the Future for the same reason: bad lyrics and annoying vocals can ruin even flawless musicianship. In the case of Steely...

Posted on 05/07/2009
I must admit, I’m truly vexed. I was under the initial impression that I would be reviewing a dancehall album. Then I got this, this album by Mavado that plays far more like a rap album than dancehall. Mr. Brooks…A Better Tomorrow sounds more like a product of the streets of New York than Kingston. Even the artist’s adherence to the paradigm of analyzing the “duality”...

Posted on 05/07/2009
When I first heard the Russian rapper, MC Comeczechmi, my initial thought was, “Maybe this is a joke or another one of those hip-hop spoof records.” My second thought was, “Oh, this isn’t a spoof,” followed by, “Let me not be an arrogant ethnocentric American.” My third thought was, “Someone wasted a lot of tracks on this guy,” followed by a storm of laughter. Simply put, MC Comeczechmi’s The Cold...

Read More

Add Comment (12)

Hits: 854