All posts by Kevin

hip-hop

Masta Killa: “Made in Brooklyn”

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Man, my wife makes me crack up, even when she doesn’t mean to. We were in the car yesterday, rockin’ out to Ghostface’s Fishscale. I said that I wondered how many of the original Wu-Tang members showed up for a Phoenix concert in early August. (The only time I saw them like nine years ago, about half the Clan was missing.) So, Annie says, in all seriousness, “Are they still accepting new members?” It sounded like question for a country club: “Excuse me, Mr. RZA, are you still taking applications for this Wu-Tang Clan?”

Far as I know, Wu-Tang still consists of its original nine members (minus, ODB, of course, R.I.P.) with its extended family (Killah Priest, Cappadonna, etc.). It’s been a pretty busy year what with Fishscale, Method Man’s 4:21 The Day After and Inspectah Deck’s Resident Patient released this year. But the album that’s really taken me aback, if only because of his more anonymous status among Wu-Tang members, is Masta Killa’s Made in Brooklyn (Nature Sounds).

With appearances by all Wu members (of course), Made in Brooklyn also features production from MF Doom and the inimitable Pete Rock. Without the benefit of liner notes (I bought it at eMusic), I’m not sure of all emcee/production credits, which is too bad because the album’s first cut, Then & Now, features kids rapping – and rapping pretty damn tight, too.

But, no doubt, the hottest track is Iron God Chamber, a low-down, dirty jam with a choppy electric guitar sample that inspires recollections of what made Wu-Tang so great in the first place. (John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats describes the beat, correctly, as “tinny and oily.”) RZA’s turn is a little clumsy, but U-God, Method Man and Masta Killa make up for that, dropping verses succinctly timed to that disciplined beat. (Or, as my man Royce said, and I think Wu-Tang should use this for press releases: “I just punched myself in the face it’s so good.”)

For the first time in awhile, I was compelled to dust off 36 Chambers and Forever. Even with no production from Wu architect RZA, Made in Brooklyn has that distinct Wu-Tang sound. No matter the release, every Wu project feels … different. The production is polished but still raw, grimy; it never forgets where it came from: that’s to say, 36 Chambers, of course.

If you haven’t visited, the Wu-Tang Web site has mad downloads available.

Made in Brooklyn is available at eMusic.

Masta Killa (feat. U-God, Method Man, RZA) | Iron God Chamber

BONUS: Method Man | O.D.
(Bonus track off 4:21)

general

The old lady

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In a first for this blog, my wife, Annie, is going to post something. In fact, I’m going to write this little introduction and leave the room and let her write. Now I know what it’ll be like on the other side, when she’s in bed, long asleep, while I’m still clacking away at the keyboard. Enjoy!

Hi. Right now Kevin is looking in the mirror saying, “Hi, I’m 29” over and over. That’s right it’s my favorite blogger’s birthday. He was a little shy in telling everyone so here I am. Don’t worry it’s not going to be a totally cheesey confession of my love for him, nor am I going to try and post on my own musical tastes. I wouldn’t want the traffic of people googling “chick + rock + ok + lesbian” coming to sms. But, I will let all of you know that Kevin has been letting people know what he’s listening to and what is really good music for quite some time. When we first started dating back in the summer of ’96 he made me a little mix tape to sweeten the relationship. I was expecting the usual slow dance Alphaville-ish music that boys use to tell girls how they really feel. Granted, Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On was the first song but there were so many other gems on there. So this post is a little tribute to the guy that had me at Good, Passin Me By and 100 Ways. I still have that cassette somewhere in a box labeled KEVO that has traveled with me since. Happy Birthday, Kevin.

Morphine | Good
The Pharcyde | Passing Me By
Porno for Pyros | 100 Ways

Plus, since I’m such a good wife I got him this for his birthday!

UPDATE: Whoa. That was awesome. I watched the end of Die Hard with a glass of Stella Artois in hand: “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.” I should let Annie post more often.

I can’t believe I put that Marvin Gaye track on there. What a tool. What can I say? I needed to cut to the chase.

hip-hop, i used to love h.e.r.

I Used to Love H.E.R.: Joel Hatstat of Cinemechanica

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The second installment of I Used to Love H.E.R., a series in which artists/bloggers/writers discuss their most essential hip-hop albums (introduction), comes from Joel Hatstat, who played bass and recorded on Cinemechanica’s The Martial Arts, which was released earlier this year to positive reviews (Pitchfork | Coke Machine Glow | Tiny Mix Tapes). Hatstat, also working with Athens, Ga., project Pegasuses, offers incredibly insightful and inspiring thoughts on a terribly overlooked album of the ’90s. (Coincidentally, Cinemechanica plays at Modified in Phoenix on Oct. 3.)

Digital Underground
Sex Packets (Tommy Boy, 1990)
(Note: Cassette version includes four bonus tracks.)

“I don’t credit myself as a thief, but sometimes you just gotta grab what grabs at you, right? Sometime in 1990, when I was about 10, it struck me that rockin’ some tunes while mowing the lawn would make for a far more pleasurable experience. The only tape I knew about in the house, aside from various Weird Al records, was my brother’s copy of Sex Packets by Digital Underground. I didn’t know where it was, so I rifled through a few of his drawers in his bedroom until I found it. I never gave it back, and he never knew what happened to it. To this day I still rock that record and it still comes across as listenable and entertaining.

“Sex Packets was not only my introduction to Digital Underground, but also P-Funk, Jimi Hendrix, and Rap Music in general. The underlying brand of their ‘crew’ was impeccable. There was character depth; verses flowed from Humpty Hump, Shock G, Money B, Kenny K, MC Blowfish, Schmoovy Schmoove, and later Tupac Shakur. There were stupid costumes, party-tinged videos, and high concept. The “Sex Packets” themselves served as the vehicle for the entire album, as well as the 9-minute songs with bridges, verses, choruses and jazzy piano interludes. The best part of their style was that the characters and the music didn’t really seem to fit anywhere in the context of what was popular. Extreme, EMF, Guns and Roses and Scorpions are probably more in line with what was playing in my room at the time. To hear a Hendrix guitar line scratched on a turntable over top of a kickin’ 808 beat really made everything else just seem pointless. Then to pour a bucket of cred onto the whole mess, 7 minutes into Doowutchyalike the Packet Man comes in and shreds some of the nastiest piano I’ve heard for about 2 minutes over top of just straight beat. There is melody all over this record, there is even a slowjam that is sung instead of rapped. I haven’t heard a rap crew come forward with so much versatility and respect for music in the 15 years since its release. It set a bar long ago that I strive to achieve with all of my projects, most of which have nothing to do with the genre whatsoever.”

Peace, and Humptiness forever,

joel

Digital Underground | Doowutchyalike

Previously:
I Used to Love H.E.R.: G. Love
I Used to Love H.E.R.: an introduction

general, hip-hop

Fat Jon and Styrofoam: “The Same Channel”

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With styles rooted in drums, bass and beats, it seems like there should be more collaborations between hip-hop and electronica artists. I’ve said before that I have a hard time swallowing electronic music on its own, so any element of hip-hop mixed in makes it more palatable for me.

That’s the case with The Same Channel, an album bringing together Fat Jon, of Cincinnati’s Five Deez, and Styrofoam, a Belgian electronic artist from the Morr Music camp. Judging by the press pictures, I’m not sure there could be two more, uh, different-looking guys (I’ll give you one guess who the Belgian electronic artist is in that photo).

Musically, the pairing is a natural fit. In my estimation, what makes this work is Fat Jon’s lyrical delivery. He’s not breathy nor does he struggle to keep pace with drums at a faster BPM. You can’t even hear him catch his breath in between rhymes, an annoying trait of some MCs (*cough* Kanye West *cough*). Fat Jon’s seamless flow is a great complement to the spaced-out compositions by Styrofoam, who also remixed Jimmy Eat World’s Drugs or Me for the Stay On My Side Tonight EP.

The Same Channel comes out Oct. 17 on Morr Music. Check out Fat Jon and Styrofoam on MySpace, where they’re streaming three tracks.

Fat Jon + Styrofoam | Runnin’ Circles

Also, homeboy Ben has the deliciously campy video for Space Gangsta, also off The Same Channel.

general

Honeycut: “The Day I Turned to Glass”

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As hip-hop labels go, few are as progressive and forward-thinking as Quannum (once known as Sole Sides), home to DJ Shadow, Blackalicious, Latyrx, etc. The label already pushes the bounds of hip-hop and lately Quannum is branching beyond that.

Did you miss the great General Elektriks album Cliquety Kliqk last year? Boo on you. Herve Salters (he’s French; sorry, accent on the second ‘e’ in Herve) was the man behind that piece of snyth-driven electro-hop; the track Central Park, with dense layers of beats, synths and abstract nuances, is a gem.

Salters is now pushing his side project, Honeycut. On The Day I Turned to Glass, Salters still cuts/pastes/experiments, but the arrangements take on a more traditional pop-song form, fleshed out by soul-inspired vocals (Bart Davenport) and drum programming (Tony Sevener). Live strings and horns also come into play.

The first single, Shadows, weaves strings in and out of Davenport’s near-falsetto voice and driving drums. It’s an invigorating tune that leaves the potential for remixes wide open.

The Day I Turned to Glass comes out Sept. 26 on Quannum Projects.

Honeycut | Shadows

radio rips

The Long Winters, live on KEXP

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The Long Winters’ new album, Putting the Days to Bed, slowly has been growing on me. I became pretty wrapped up with the Ultimatum EP (especially The Commander Thinks Aloud thanks to Chris’ persistence), which was my introduction to John Roderick. The good thing about that is once I wear out Putting the Days to Bed, I’ll have older albums to catch up with, and they’ll seem new – to me.

As for this KEXP set, Roderick seems to be about the nicest guy in rock. The group’s appearance lasts 50-plus minutes, a performance heavy on the new stuff – including playing the first three songs off Putting the Days to Bed to start. It makes me sad that I’ll miss their show Sept. 12 at the Rhythm Room in Phoenix. Boo work!

On a final note, the more I ponder the title of the album, Putting the Days to Bed, the more depressing I find it, like some sad concession to a rote life or an admission to just getting through it for the sake of … nothing. From the song Hindsight: “Did you say what you wanted said, and now you’re just putting the days to bed.”

The Long Winters, live on KEXP, 8/14/06:
1. Pushover
2. Fire Island, AK
3. Teaspoon
4. Honest
5. Ultimatum
6. Clouds
7. Seven
8. Car Parts

Related:
Indie Interviews chatted via e-mail with Roderick about lyrics on Putting the Days to Bed. Great job by Garrison.

If you haven’t seen already, WOXY will cease to exist. And that just blows.”This is the moment all of us hoped would never come. After plugging away at this for the past two years, it’s become pretty clear that operating woxy.com as a stand-alone Internet “radio station” is not going to cut it. Our operating costs are higher than you might think, and the revenue we were able to generate from advertising isn’t close to supporting what we’re doing.”

Radio Indie Pop is streaming TV on the Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain.

arizona

Tonight: Reubens Accomplice at Modified

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I’m ashamed to admit that for as long as I’ve lived in Phoenix – or at least for as long as I’ve been attending shows – I’ve yet to see Reubens Accomplice, one of our local scene’s best bands.

The band’s principal members are Chris Corak and Jeff Bufano, although they seem to have stabilized the other half with Ryan Kennedy and the great John O’Reilly on drums, who apparently tracked some drum work in the studio for the Format’s latest LP Dog Problems.

Reubens has been quite active lately on the show circuit, which probably means they’re trying out new songs from the forthcoming LP, tentatively titled Mammal Music. If it’s as good as their last effort, The Bull, The Balloon, and The Family, then we’re in for a treat. The guys have a great ability in their writing to capture the vacant feelings of this city, its nostalgia and the sometimes depressing feeling that creates. There’s lots of sincerity in their irony.

If you’re on the West Coast, Reubens is playing a few dates with Maritime in Southern California in September and opening for the Format Friday night in San Diego. (Check their tour page.)

Limbeck and relative local newcomers Alcoholiday open the show tonight.

Reubens Accomplice | Underneath the Golden Grain
Reubens Accomplice | All Chorus

general

Mobius Band: “The Loving Sounds of Static”

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This likely will be a woefully short post because it’s late and it’s my Friday night (I’m off work on Wednesday and Thursday) … but let me tell you that Mobius Band, from Brooklyn, is opening some West Coast dates for the National. The shows also include So Much Silence favorite Baby Dayliner. Need I say more?

I’m going to do my damndest to make it out to LA for either the Oct. 9 or Oct. 11 show at the Troubadour. Mobius Band seamlessly meshes electronica into crisp guitar lines, leaving The Loving Sounds of Static as a song to which I’ve slowly, surely become addicted.

You can pick up Mobius Band’s album, The Loving Sounds of Static, on eMusic.

Mobius Band | The Loving Sounds of Static

Video: The Loving Sounds of Static

hip-hop

DJ Low Budget: “She’s Mature Mini-Mega Remix”

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A couple of months ago, I posted on irreverent Philly hip-hop group Plastic Little (which, I think, is also the name of some anime character. Anyone? … Anime … Hello?) and the single The Jump Off, one of the more refreshing hip-hop tracks of the year.

Well, we’re still waiting for the group’s full-length, She’s Mature (Tonearm), which allegedly is due Sept. 15. In the meantime, DJ Low Budget of Hollertronix fame has put together a nine-minute remix of tracks from the album. It’s a nice teaser, and I’m guessing the lighthearted approach will be just as thick through the album as it is on The Jump Off.

Word has it Diplo and Spank Rock make a guest spots on the album. Preorder it.

Plastic Little presents DJ Low Budget | She’s Mature Mini-Mega Remix

Video: The Jump Off
Video: Rap O’Clock

general

Badly Drawn Boy: “Born in the UK”

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In anticipation of the new Badly Drawn Boy album, Born in the UK (due on Oct. 17 on Astralwerks), I dusted off his back catalog over the weekend to reacquaint myself.

No matter what Badly Drawn Boy (born Damon Gough) does from here forward, he’ll always be a sentimental favorite for me; Annie and I chose his song The Shining for her walk down the aisle at our wedding more than two years ago.

But I’ll be interested to see how his new album is received. He doesn’t strike me as the type of artist that will stir much buzz among the blogs.

Talented as I think he is, Badly Drawn Boy does just as much to befuddle me. We saw him in Tempe, Ariz., in support of his last album, One Plus One Is One, a couple years back. For some reason, BDB insisted – somewhat stubbornly – on playing only new songs for the first half of the show, as if he had some point to prove. I’m sure there was some deep, artistic interpretation to what he was doing, but it didn’t seem like the best way to ingratiate himself to the crowd.

Musically, One Plus One Is One threw me a bit as well. It felt – and still does – dense and overdone. The song Year of the Rat is a great example. I love what that song should be; instead, there’s timpani drums, a disrupting ride cymbal and a chorus sung by children. His arrangements seem headed toward exaggerated levels that wash out his more introspective sincerity, which is what drew me to him in the first place. Though, he’s always been prone to unironic (cheesy?) grandioseness: “The keys to your heart open the door to the world” (opening line on the title track to Have You Fed the Fish?). Yipes. Yet, I still get chills listening to You Were Right, which lays on the cheese factor pretty heavy.

So I’m curious just enough to see what he has in store on Born in the UK, a pretty obvious play off Born in the USA. An homage to his home country, the title track, a straightforward rocker, references Sid Vicious, John Lennon and the Union Jack among others.

Video: Born in the UK
Real Player: High | Low
Windows Media: High | Low

I’m trying to secure an mp3 from the new album. Until then:
mp3: The Shining (The Avalanches Good Word for the Weekend Remix)