May 25, 2012
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Reviews

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royceBirth


theREBIRTH
Third Charm Media
89

Chicago/Toronto emcee royceBirth’s new LP Rebirth is an album to be treasured, on par with Common’s The Dreamer, The Believer, Finale’s A Pipe Dream and A Promise, and Nas’ best output; staples of bona fide hip-hop, which simultaneously blaze trails of inspiration through the blockades of adversity and of life’s many dead ends.

RoyceBirth is hip-hop’s psychiatrist whose diagnosis (and prevention) are prescribed in the therapeutic Rebirth.  The album’s setting immerses the listener in melancholy as Royce lyrically journals his troubled life, the atmospheric production redolent of its sometimes disheartening nature.  “Ankh (Yesterday),” “Good Morning (Morning Glory),” “Brand New,” and the hurt-my-soul “For You” form the darker chapters of Royce’s sinister biography. The sound of crystalline piano keys in “Purpose” and the haunting guitar strings in “And Remember” are digested like pain medicine to an injured spirit as he questions his existence searching for a driven purpose life.  Drums brings hardened cement to life in the form of a “Brick In the Wall,” a single that metaphorically describes a human heart ostracized from an inhumane society.

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Amadou & Mariam


Folila
Because Music/Nonesuch Records
88

Over nearly forty years performing and recording music, Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia have paired their eclectic brand of Malian blues with collaborators from countless countries and genres. So, it is only fitting that for their eighth studio recording, the husband and wife duo would deliver a free-flowing affirmation of the power of music in all its forms. Initially, Folila was conceived as two separate projects, one a traditional set built around African instrumentation, and the second a crossover endeavor recorded in New York and featuring assorted guests from the western pop world. Eventually the two sets were merged, resulting in a collection of musical bridges, bringing together genres, instruments and generations often at odds in the notoriously fickle world of music.

“Dougou Badia” is a superb tone-setter, pairing vintage African drums with searing electric guitars, providing a spellbinding backdrop for the tag team vocals of Mariam and urban alternative favorite, Santigold. “Metemya” unfurls with a more freewheeling, improvisational energy, but is grounded by precise percussion. The falsetto backing harmonies from Jack Shears of Scissor Sisters make a compelling counterpoint to the Amadou’s commanding baritone. “C’est Pas Facille Pour Les Aigles” explodes from the speakers like a crisp, two and a half minute Creole/Rock N’ Roll anthem.

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Snarky Puppy


GroundUp
Ropeadope Records
88

Classification is the process of grouping things according to their similarities.  The musicology of the savant band Snarky Puppy is made wildly problematical by their varied musical taxonomy, comprising jazz, swing, electro pop, rock, soul, funk, go-go, and a fraction of hip-hop.

The band’s latest experimental pet project is GroundUp, an album that cultivates true musicianship instrumentally–without features, guest vocalists or even lyrics.  The resplendent and tasteful “Binky” exemplifies the project; luxuriant with grooving percussion, the single fools listeners into thinking the song is ending just when its suspense climaxes to lustful horn and brass that will make lovers drool over each other.

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Apollo Brown & O.C.


Trophies
Mello Music Group
86

At no other time has hip-hop been so inclusive, its subgenres reconfigured for accessible radio-friendly formats. Though with that inclusiveness comes a different kind of rap music, not focused so much on hefty lyrics and grainy bass drums. In the pursuit of fame, some MCs have chosen to scale it down, fusing comprehensible rhymes with glossier beats for a more digestible sound. That reality has created an unfortunate rift within rap circles, mostly between older and younger listeners: those with traditional palates long for the “boom bap” and social commentary of yesteryear, while their counterparts revel in the current wave of “swag” rap. Certainly, hip-hop doesn’t belong to one community in particular, but never before has there been such divisiveness about its artistic direction.

Is hip-hop more about mixtape downloads and YouTube views, and less about artistic integrity? Is today’s MC more concerned with celebrity than creative depth? Detroit producer Apollo Brown and Brooklyn rapper O.C. seem to think so. “Everybody want their trophy,” grumbles an aggravated voice at the top of Trophies, Brown and O.C.’s collaborative album. “Is that supposed to tell me that you did something?” That criticism is the underlying theme of  Trophies, on which O.C. discusses real-life scenarios over Brown’s crackling percussion and enveloping bass lines. You won’t hear O.C. bragging about his material possessions; in fact, he chastises such excess. Nor will you hear Brown forgoing his menacing compositions for pop extravagance. Instead, Trophies is no-frills hip-hop for nostalgic fans: dope beats and sharp lyricism for the insightfully inclined.

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Norah Jones


Little Broken Hearts
Blue Note
81

Norah Jones looks amazing.  The only problem with this aesthetic impression is that it’s telling of the somewhat benign auditory mark left by her new LP, Little Broken Hearts.  Armed with production from Danger Mouse, a fierce new haircut, and the lyrical angst of a woman scorned, Jones seems to have assembled all the signifiers required of a rebirth.  Unfortunately only a few of the 12 tracks build upon the promise of Jones’ blazing cameos on Danger Mouse’s 2011 Rome record.  None of this is to suggest that the lovely Ms. Jones has drained the honey from her pipes; her voice is still as perfectly airy–with a touch of rasp–as it ever was.  See opener “Good Morning” for a pleasant refresher, or, depending on your opinion of this record, a semi-portentous glimpse into dreamland.

While Danger Mouse has lent career momentum, via kicks and overall sonic backbone, to everyone from Jemini the Gifted One to The Black Keys, not all of his collaborators have been blessed with such trampoline-type bounce – see Beck.  Despite more upbeat standouts like “Say Goodbye” and “Happy Pills,” Little Broken Hearts sounds wispy and balmy, not altogether unenjoyable or boring, just not quite actualized to its fullest potential, more Modern Guilt than Brothers.  Between the obvious hits and the Halcion fuzz however lays an interesting sound.  Album closer “All A Dream” is a smoked-out spaghetti-Western sounding joint befitting of that weird road side tavern in “Twin Peaks,” and that’s a good thing, a sound Rome capitalized on and Little Broken Hearts merely hints at in passing.

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Gypsyphonic Disko


NoLAPhonic Volume 2
Super Smart Produce
80

Let me be honest. There are moments when I listen to the first track on an album and decide right then and there, if I think it’s good or bad. I know, this is isn’t always the best way to gather an informed opinion about something, but there is value in thin slicing — in using a sample of something to determine the quality of its whole. And that’s what I did when listening to Gypsyphonic Disko’s, NoLAPhonic Volume 2, my initial reaction being one of confusion and dislike. Simply put, I thought the sound was corny. But. By the middle of the album, I wasn’t so sure.

Gypsyphonic Disko is made up of Ben Ellman, from New Orleans funk band, Galactic, and producer, Quickie Mart, and on this particular project, the two mash up New Orleans’s native, Bounce, Klezmer, and balkan music, to create a sound…unheard. Just from the first track, the one that threw me for a loop the most, they take Juvenile’s “Set It Off,” and mash it with “Hava Nagila,” which is awfully creative, but came across as trite and forced. Not to mention the intricate horn over the already bass-heavy and synthesized beat just seemed to muddy the song.

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Wendy Rene


After Laughter Come Tears: Complete Stax & Volt Singles and Rarities 1964-65
Light In The Attic
89

The legendary Stax Records has been responsible for the careers of artists like: Otis Redding, The Soul Children, Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays and many others.  The label also adorned the records of Memphis-bred singer Mary Frierson, better known as Wendy Rene.

Rene got her start in the early 60’s as part of the group The Drapels and managed to have a coexisting solo deal at the time.  During her solo recording period Rene created a list of classic songs, “Your Love is all I Need,” “Please Don’t Leave,” “After Laughter Comes Tears,” and “Young and Foolish.” After The Drapels disbanded, Rene opted to end her solo career for motherhood. Ironically, her last show was supposed to be with Otis Redding and Bar-Kays, on the day of their plane crash however, she did not attend the show.

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Small Professor


Gigantic, Vol. 1
Diamond Music Group
88

Philly producer Small Professor may be one of the most phenomenal producers (still) not known to most.  His striking Jawns series of instrumentals dropped via Bandcamp a few years after an exceptional LP release, Slowbus, and gave an attentive few a glimpse into his abilities as a skilled sound-crafter.  The Gigantic Vol. 0 marked the point where we got to hear a full project featuring MCs over his beats.  But that was only a mere prequel to his most dramatic statement to date, The Gigantic Vol. 1.

The intro, “Small Pro Cometh,” introduces the project in a dramatic and climatic fashion, leaving the listener in drastic anticipation after being pummeled by a dark, maniacal barrage of heavy snare hits and well-placed vocal bits from the likes of Black Thought, LL Cool J, and Kevin Hart. Thank god the rest of the album lives up to the hype of this intro!

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BADBADNOTGOOD


BBNG 2
N/A
87

BADBADNOTGOOD (let’s call them BBNG) first came to notoriety with their covers of Odd Future songs, a process they took to the next level with a video they released of Tyler The Creator performing “Seven” with them in the studio. It was mental. Much like anything involving Tyler, he commanded the center of attention, hamming it up for the camera and well, was generally Tyler. So the three white boys laying down a pretty heavy groove in the background stayed exactly there–in the background. But in doing so they showed exactly why Tyler gave them their blessing. Quite simply, they’ve got a great sound.

BBNG are a trio of young jazz musicians (or rather jazz-trained musicians): Matt Tavares on keys, Chester Hansen on bass, and Alex Sowinski on drums. What they make could be called jazz, funk, or hip-hop, but ultimately it’s all about the bottom. The bass to be precise, a low end so satisfyingly squelchy that you’ll have to wade through it.

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Obie Trice


Bottoms Up
Black Market Entertainment
80

Obie Trice’s third studio album (first since 2006’s Second Round’s on Me), Bottoms Up, brings me back to the good old days of the 00s. Trice is reminiscent of himself, which is both good (coherence) and bad (lack of development). Any artist walks the fine line of evolving versus staying true to their flow and Bottoms Up is just a step in that self-discovery.   One can imagine, though, that a project 6+ years in the making can wane on itself, and there are moments where the exhaustion is palpable. 

Listeners are hyped immediately from strong key progressions in the Dr. Dre-produced intro “Bottoms Up,” which serves as thank-you to fans who have stuck with Trice through this journey and to those who molded his musical inspirations, including his former label, Shady Records.  Trice is multifaceted on this album, moving in between “Dear Lord,” a confessional track of sorts, wherein Trice reconciles his guilt for indulging street life with his faith, to “I Pretend,” as he pines over having a deeper connection with the woman he’s courting, even if that courting is mainly in his mind. The rock-reminiscent chorus here blends fluidly with the sexual innuendos. Statik Selektah produced the reggae-inspired “Richard” which features Eminem.  The dynamic between Em and Trice generates an exciting energy that contrasts pleasurably with the mellow beat.  “Battle Cry” boasts an emotional chorus and crooning additions from Adrian Rezza, and here Trice addresses the tumultuous nature of the hip-hop industry, being “shot” by critics, and criticisms from fans and peers alike.  He similarly addresses this in “Lebron On,” essentially paralleling the disapproval he received from fans upon his departure from Shady Records to the criticism Lebron received for leaving from Cleveland.

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Rusty Redenbacher


The Tinkerer
N/A
79

As part of the Indianapolis based group, The Mudkids, Rusty Redenbacher released four albums, notably their latest release, We Are Dynamic and People Like Us. What connected audiences to The Mudkids was the way they blended  hip-hop, jazz and rock elements together.  Stepping out of that group atmosphere for a little bit, emcee Rusty Redenbacher releases his latest installment, The Tinkerer. 

With this project, Redenbacher blends together old school hip-hop with rock and explores pretty much anything that comes to his mind, jumping between rapping, producing and DJing and drawing from influence as diverse as Full Metal Jacket and Fleetwood Mac, just to name a few.

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Rocket Juice & The Moon


Rocket Juice & The Moon
Honest Jon's
68

Widely believed to have been created by your annoying friends’ endless “what if” scenarios, Rocket Juice and the Moon is the amalgamation of Damon Albarn, Flea and Tony Allen. Yes that Damon, of course that Flea and for dramatic effect/randomness Tony Allen of Memphis Griz-I mean Fela Kuti fame. Even with the proverbial grain of salt, Rocket Juice still tastes bland. It’s not the chili peppers (pun unintended) or Blur or the Gorillaz, it’s something less polished. Straight up, this album doesn’t suck… it’s just boring. Most of the tracks begin with a head nodding rhythm–Flea’s funk-inspired basslines match well with Allen’s South African drum patterns–but halfway through the song you wonder if it’s going to evolve in to anything. Too often it doesn’t.

Take “Follow-Fashion” for example. This jam builds slowly for the first 45 seconds layer by layer until the horns kick in and we hear the smooth crooning of Fatoumata Diawara…and then…nothing. Well not nothing really, Ghanian rapper M.anifest holds it down with a decent verse showcasing his effortless flow but musically the song does not progress.The same guitar lick plays through most of the nearly 4 minute track. “Fatherless” sounds like an under-produced Gorillaz beat and would probably benefit with an Alburn-as-2D cameo and maybe some synths.

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