This now-quarterly mag of funk, soul, hiphop, jazz, and anything else groovy presents their 10th Anniversary issue, with his Purple Highness, Prince on the cover. Inside, a lot of Prince-related content, including "33 Reasons Why Prince Is Hiphop" by ?uestlove of The Roots. There's features on Morris Day, Jesse Johnson, Madhouse, The Family, 94 East...
Also: Blood Orange, DJ Quik (talking about some of his favorite records), Larry Graham, Toro y Moi, Frank Ocean, and more. All, as always, copiously illustrated with full color photography. 104 pages.
On the cover(s): Sade and Flying Lotus. Inside, also: Dam-Funk, Betty Wright, Cody Chesnutt, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Gary Bartz, and, uh, Lenny Kravitz. Among other peeps. All colorfully illustrated in the usual Wax Poetics fashion, with vintage photos and album covers and all that.
Oh, and there's a cool piece about the NYC roller disco boogie scene in the '70s!
Some records are totally unanimous AQ favorites and then there are those times that we are split pretty divisively on something. The latest from Kanye West has both some haters and some big time lovers here at the store. Those who love it (Irwin, especially!) can't get enough of its raw emotion (these are songs recorded after the death of his mother and the breakup of his engagement) and totally stripped down 808 beats that almost sound like they could be at home on a Kraftwerk or Suicide record if it was produced by Timbaland. This time out Kanye isn't rapping as much as he is singing, but knowing he doesn't posses the world's best singing voice he uses a whole lot of auto-tuning on his vocals. That's where those not as in love with the record tend to get turned off as he does use them on almost every track, a la T-Pain, but those who love the record feel that those vocals fit so perfectly in the flashing heart on sleeve feel of the record. Anyone who has recently experienced heartbreak will probably have a much easier time fully surrendering to these songs. It's almost like some kind of electro-emo-hip-hop carried out with such fiery passion and it almost sounds like it was all recorded in his bedroom on an 808 infused with the emotions and dire after-effects of a broken heart. So thumping, electric and pulsating. The record does sound like a heart pulsating with such rapid motion throughout. Give this record a chance, even if you have a hard time with Kanye's huge ego, because under all the bluster and bravado he really is pretty talented!
We really want to hate Kanye. He seems kind of like a dick. Anyone who spends that much time shooting his mouth off, most definitely deserves to at least be ignored, if not openly ridiculed. But you know what, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy gets him a pass. Big time. Sure he's probably nuts, and most definitely a prima donna, but he's also apparently a twisted visionary, cuz this record is so far removed from hip hop as you know it, it's hard to believe this is mainstream shit, that this is probably the most popular record in the world, or at least one of em. Some seriously NEXT level shit. This stuff is fucking WILD, and sprawling, and over the top, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy indeed. Assuming Kanye's fantasy was to create some sort of progressive rock opera hip hop epic, which is pretty much precisely what he's done.
None of that tired rapping over loop and beats, this is so much more. Beginning with "Dark Fantasy", which opens up with a lush vocal/piano refrain, majestic and dramatic, sounding like some Antony / E.L.O. collaboration, before the beats kick in, and then over the course of the track, strings soar, soulful vocals are crooned, which leads into the fuzzed out psychedelic groover "Gorgeous", with it's buzzy psych guitar leads, and yeah, we said GUITARS, more awesome vocals wound around those guitars too, and sure there's rapping, but the vibe is more psych pop than hip hop. Then there's "Power", odds are you've probably heard it by now, it's pretty much a game changer, driven by chanted female vocals and handclaps, not to mention some fat fuzzy bass, loping rock drums, and bursts of crunchy guitar, super processed distorted vocals, and of course, a perfectly placed sample of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man". One of those rare tracks that doesn't have a single misstep. Dark and intense, funky and groovy, but also rocking and intense and emotional.
The rest of the record continues in a similarly obtuse and surprisingly prog rock fashion, the songs convoluted and sprawling, the rhymes fucked up and funny and super clever. The other standout (on a record full of them) is probably "Monster", a stuttery bit of twisted dark pop, with tons of guests, most notably, Nicki Minaj, whose verse pretty much puts ALL others to shame, even Jay-Z, whose verse is particularly bad ass, but Minaj is a twisted weirdo, slipping in and out of characters, flitting from accent to accent, growling, yelping, crooning girlishly, talking endless amounts of hilarious shit, the track finishes off with still more moody crooning, reminding us that this is so much more than a run of the mill verse for verse trade off
And so it goes, soulful, funky, proggy, dark and dreamy, heavy and crunchy, strings, guitars, beats, and of course Kanye's twisted unorthodox flow (best line: "I got two White Russians, but we also need some drinks"), a dizzying masterpiece of truly bizarre and epic prog hop.
You already know how good this is. Smart and funny and funky. Everyone's hip hop record of the year. Not hard to see why.
Chances are you either love to hate him or you hate to love him, but whichever camp you fall in, one thing is for certain... there's no escaping Kanye! One more thing that's for certain? Yeezus is as abrasive, genre-bending and challenging as any record you'll hear this year, mainstream or otherwise. It explodes with the kind of schizophrenic disregard for convention that only the most obsessive and confrontational albums achieve. From the jarring industrial assault of opening track "On Sight" to the sparsely bittersweet soul loop of closer "Bound 2", 'Yeezus' constantly surprises and consistently refuses to compromise. Single "Black Skinhead" is an exhilarating tribal whirlwind built around a '70s glam rock drum stomp. "I Am A God" doesn't sound too far from something the Swans might have come up with circa The Great Annihilator while the menacing dub of "New Slaves" wouldn't sound out of place on a Scorn record. Elsewhere the album flutters between grimy harsh synths, dusty soul, monolithic cinematic orchestral blasts, ethereal ambiance - seemingly all in the span of one song! Vocally the album finds Kanye at his most unrestrained and unrefined, sometimes recalling the guttural stream of consciousness outbursts of Death Grips. Lyrically it's by far his angriest record, pulsing with frustration and rage, tackling everything from race to excess to (very, very graphic) sex. It's not an easy listen but an immensely rewarding one and sure to be one of the more divisive albums of the year. And in our opinion one of the best!
First we've heard from sampledelic South London producer Paul White, whose new album for Now-Again ought to appeal to everyone who liked the Madlib Medicine Show No. 6 disc we listed last time (which was a crazy DJ mix of vintage psych/funk/prog from around the world). Paul White likewise takes a chopped-up, dial-spinning, hiphop approach to quite similar, psychedelic material coming from but ONE source: the records of cult Swedish psych purveyor ST Mikael (who records for the Subliminal Sounds label, same as Dungen). Sampling, editing, looping, and layering snippets of ST's stuff, Paul also contributes additional synth, percussion and vocals, constructing a veritable psychedelic fantasmagoria, 25 delirious and delightful tracks that mash n' meld hiphop beats, popsike melody, Eastern string zing, folky strum, freaky electric guitar, odd sound FX, head nodding funky grooves, mystical atmospheres, non sequitur spoken bits, etc.
While we must admit we were only passingly familiar with the work of ST Mikael (and what we'd heard, or maybe it was just his record covers, seemed a bit cheesy, in an aging New Agey hippie sort of way, he's from the '90s after all) but Mr. White's hiphop makeover of Mikael is definitely cool. The results are a bit like the aforementioned Madlib, also remind us of When albums like The Lobster Boys and Pearl Harvest, as well as the likes of DJ Shadow, BMSR, and Rockford Kabine. Dreamy and druggy and definitely A.D.D. Recommended for sure. YOUR brain will be purple by the time you're through listening.
The cd version comes in a cardboard wallet, the vinyl in deluxe "paste-on" jacket, and in addition, the vinyl version includes a bonus 12" (first 1000 copies only) featuring Paul White together with Guilty Simpson.
We've loved pretty much everything on Anticon, the East Bay hip hop label that has been turning hip hop upside down with their arty, bizarre production and their whiny whiteboy emcees. And this new Why? record takes the production even farther out, so much so that this almost sounds like a quirky indie rock record rather than a hip hop record. But the vocals are really tough to take. I love the whiny, rapid fire delivery, the lyrical surrealism, but here, THAT, combined with the un-hip hop production, makes Why? sound a little too much like Atom And His Package or some other annoying joke band. And the thing is I LOVE Atom And His Package. But I'm sorry, Why? is just no Atom.
More totally out-there, free form experimental hip hop from the always awesome Anticon collective. Everything we've come to expect and love about the Anticon folks: whiny white boy flow, songs that are snippets and vice versa, erratic and completely unpredictable samples, and hiccupping stop/start rhythms. Ridiculous, but not silly. Funky, but impossible to dance to. Serious subject matters, but no overbearing preaching. Really cool.
It's been way over twenty years since Wild Style came out. No doubt, one of the freshest, most fun and stylish hip-hop films ever made. A few years ago it played at the Red Vic, a great co-op run theater in the city, and those of us who had never seen it before totally fell in love with with the charm of the movie and the great early hip-hop soundtrack (not to mention to jaw dropping fashion that still looks so damn hot!). While there was a cd reissue of Wild Style a few years back, these really are the kind of tracks you want to have on wax. Brings us back to that so missed fun filled, groove rich sound of early hip-hop that was really the soundtrack to breakdancing, graffiting, and ultimate endless block parties. Turntable wizardry, flawless raw MC skills, all under the musical production of Fab 5 Freddy. Still sounds so damn good all these years later. And any of you who love stuff like Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC, Doug E Fresh, Kurtis Blow, and the like, Wild Style is definitely the ultimate document of hip-hop's glory days. So fresh!
Saul Williams is an all around Renaissance Man: an artist, poet, actor, writer, and musician, who was recently seen writing and starring in the film Slam. The guy does it all, and here we're treated to his music and his singular vocal method -- intensely
And the musical accompaniment? It's decent -- and quite varied. Some tracks have atmospheric guitar feedback, the better to showcase the voice and creep out the audience. Other tracks feature modern 2-step-ish breakbeats, and yet others sound like Rage Against the Machine-style rock workouts complete with heavy pseudo-metal guitars and fingerpicking acrobatics.
Why doesn't Techno Animal get Saul to front one of their tracks? Have you heard their Dead Man's Curse ep, cos if you haven't now is the time! Look it up on the website; we've got a soundclip of 'em and I'll bet after hearing it you'll agree all parties would benefit from a collaboration.
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Featuring DJ Rhettmatic, mixing Jurassic 5, Mos Def, T-Love, Alkaholiks, Xzibit, Rasco, more.
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The only relic of the original song that links all of these remixes together is the repetitive chorus of "Wu Motherfucker... Wu-Tang Motherfucker". Remixes include the ridiculously catchy Parisian house remix from WestBam, the noxious dub of Zulutronic (aka Kerosene & Jammin' Unit), the slow jam 'radio edit' by Hithunter which does not do away with any of the profanities, and the stellar Autechre-influenced remix by Funkstorung (who recently did wonders with Bjork's "All Is Full of Love")
We've been torn over hip hop jam of the year. It's either gotta be Birdman's "100 Million", from the new Five Star Stunna record, with its "Stuntin' Like My Daddy" verse and crazy soul harmony "Gangster's Paradise" chorus, or "Wolves", from the long awaited Wu-Tang Clan disc 8 Diagrams, with its classic Wu verses (including a killer from Method Man), and a rambling sort-of-sung chorus with George Clinton channeling Old Dirty Bastard, and well, the more we listen to it, the more the Wu-Tang seems to have the edge...
But before we get to the jam of the year discussion, holy shit is 8 Diagrams a killer comeback! And comeback it is. The last few discs, were admittedly weak, but always had at least a few stone cold classics on each, but not nearly enough to make any of those records worth more than a cursory listen or two, on 8 Diagrams though, they're almost all killers, a few missteps here and there, but even those tracks have some amazing part, or some crazy chunk of lyricology. Everyone's been talking about "The Heart Gently Weeps", the first legally sampled Beatles track, but it's kinda weak, a schmaltzy slow jam, with a bland Eryka Badu chorus. They could have transformed the original into something hard and fierce, but instead it turned out a limp ballad, -except- for the warbly refrain, a falsetto vocal singing "that bitch is crazy�", never fails to crack us up, but not enough to save the song.
But elsewhere� where to start? Howabout "Rushing Elephants"? The best Wu track since "Uzi (Pinky Ring)", but the same sort of vibe, with each Wu-Tang-er offering up an awesome verse, the loop playful and dramatic, then there's "Unpredictable", with it's Bernard Hermann like orchestral stabs, and the throbbing Prince like squalls of guitar feedback, the shuffling rhythm, all over long slow building swells of dissonant melody, the flows rapid fire and super aggressive. And so it goes throughout 8 Diagrams, RZA's beats bad ass, all the various Wu-Tang-ers are on fire, Method Man sounds better than ever, had us hankering for a new solo record, even the second stringers shine.
But as far as we're concerned it's all about the aforementioned "Wolves". The main loop is fucking perfect, twangy strum, a drone of low harmony vocals, some Morricone-ish whistling, mariachi horns, the drums simple and stripped down, but funky as shit, and then the flows over the top. Method Man's in particular. When his verse starts, he sings "Defecating on the map...", and it makes you laugh at first, but the way he spits it makes it sounds like some timeless Buddhist koan, a pearl of obtuse wisdom, and soon, that and a handful of other perfect turns of phrase are lodged in your cranium. And then there's the refrain. A raspy George Clinton, singing about the wolf that killed grandma, and about how he's your St. Bernard in a snowstorm, all delivered in a wavery old man croon, like some funky elder ODB, again, so goofy and funny and fucked, that it sort of makes you giggle, until it reveals itself as THE perfect hook, and suddenly, you realize, without a doubt, that this is in fact, the hip hop JAM OF THE YEAR! And the more we listen to this whole disc the more we can't seem to stop, which is leading us to believe that 8 Diagrams might just find its way onto plenty of 2007 top ten lists, ours included...
Back again, with a burst of gunfire and the sound of sirens, and thankfully they didn't wait 3 years this time. And as far as we're concerned they're still at the top of their game. It doesn't hurt that the majority of the 'Clan are wicked lyricists and
Wu Tang. Greatest hits. What else do you need? If you're too lazy or too stupid or just too out of touch to already own all these records, you can pick this up and play like you made yourself a mix cd from your old lps! This is classic shit!
The Wu is back! After over three long years since their last collaboration as a group when they released "Wu-Tang Forever." Where "Forever" was maybe a little epic in proportions, spanning two cds or 4 lps, "The W" (no, the title is not a reference to George Bush the younger) is more of a honed and strangely unified object. On the one hand this album is still chock full of kung fu madness, messed up production and lovingly half-baked raps as their previous forays. There are even a few incredibly retarded rhythm tracks here taken directly from the Sensational recipe book. Yet on the other hand they're somehow firmly rooted in this world by way of an impressive cast of cameos by the likes of Snoop Dogg, Redman, reggae crooner Junior Reid, Nas, Busta Rhymes and even Isaac Hayes.
Two discs of the new Wu! Rap's state-of-the-art. Includes America OnLine propaganda. Ugh.
New WU!
Another stab at success for the Wu-Tang's second stringers, and surprisingly it's not a total bust, it's actually pretty cool. It's all about the RZA, it always has been and it always will be. No matter how good the rapper, it's the loop and the beat that make the sound distinctly Wu-Tang. That still holds true here. While some of the rappers do shine, most of them are pretty by the numbers. Not bad, just sort of same-y. But the awesome production manages to pull this out of the pass pile and making this definitely worth checking out. Plus there's a bonus Wu-Tang track that smokes, with all the big hitters, which, while it makes this disc even more worthwhile, it does make the other lower tier Wu-Tangers pale just that much more in comparison. Just check out the sound clips.
Included on the end of the Bongo Flava compilation (see AQL #216), X Plastaz are one of the biggest names in Tanzanian hip hop -- hence the release of this disc, a closer examination of their music. You'd never know to listen -- unless you can speak Swahili and Haya -- but the music of X Plastaz is steeped in social and political activism. Criticizing corrupt politicians, speaking out against violence, theft and unemployment. And while the Tanzanian hip hop scene in its infancy certainly owed much, if not imitated directly, the hip hop music coming out of the U.S., the Bongo Flava groups take just as many cues from dancehall, Indian film music and -- in X Plastaz case -- traditional Maasai chanting. The latter is what makes X Plastaz stand so far out from the Bongo Flava crowd: including in their crew a Maasai warrior on vocals. The Maasai are rural people, who still live in tight knit villages and follow age old traditions long since foresaken by the modernized urban Tanzanian population. Further, the Maasai are seen as backward by the urban Tanzanians. So along with being looked down upon by older, more conservative Tanzanians for partaking in this "degenerate" musical form, they stand apart from their young, urban counterparts. Pretty damn punk rock when you consider it. As a bonus, two videos of X Plastaz are included on the disc.
Formerly known as the X-Men (name changed for obvious reasons), this Brooklyn quartet of world champion turntablists breaks out with first album. On their very own label, Audio Soul, a subsidiary of Asphodel.
Back in stock!!! Last list's RotW...
We normally don't make "now available on cd" releases Record Of The Week. But there are plenty of reasons to do just that with this one! First off, C'MON! It's LEVIATHAN and XASTHUR! On the same disc! Two of the most important, and musically creative black metal one-man-hordes in the new wave of west coast black metal (NWOWCBM?) teamed up for the ultimate NWOWCBM one two punch. Singlehandedly (doublehandedly?) putting USBM back on the black metal map, and completely redefining the genre, grim and brutal and black for sure, but also totally bizarre and avant and experimental. Plus even you folks who picked up the vinyl versions will need this, as there are 4 bonus tracks, three of them are from Xasthur, a brand new unreleased track, a rehearsal track from 2004, and a Katatonia cover! The other bonus track is Leviathan's amazing version of Judas Iscariot's "Where The Winter Beals Incessant"! But even without the bonus tracks, this clash of the black titans is totally essential, some of the most beautifully blackened and furiously fucked up black metal you are ever likely to hear. Xasthur from Southern California and Leviathan from right here in SF are blackened brothers, both exploring similar themes of hate and misery, darkness and death, but coming at 'em from completely different sonic angles. Xasthur is more about mood and atmosphere, with thick swaths of fuzzy riffery, galloping drums, rumbling bass and agonised howls of despair, all dense and dark and claustrophobic. Leviathan is much more technical and a lot weirder, but no less moody, with ultra complex and bizarrely arranged parts, insane drumming, buzzing riffery, and hints of doom and progrock mixed into his bleak and blackened metalscapes. ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL!!
The leadoff track from Yo La Tengo's latest album, Popular Songs, gets the remix treatment from three of the band's favorite hip-hop beat makers. De La Soul, RJD2, and Pete Rock all take their turn remixing "Here To Fall". While we usually aren't the biggest fans of rock bands going the remix route, especially the HIP HOP remix route, luckily Yo La Tengo have always managed to pull of whatever they wanted to do, no matter how unlikely, or seemingly ill advised, and this is yet another example, with all the remixers totally and reverentially respecting YLT's aesthetic while making something new and fresh out of an already great song. De La Soul and RJD2 give more of a break beat groove to the song not adding any of their own vocals which we appreciate, while the Pete Rock remix is for sure the most up front hip-hop one of the bunch. We also know how much these artists mean to Yo La Tengo, as James McNew gushed with excitement about how excited he was to meet Pete Rock, De La Soul and RJD2 the last time he was in town and came to hang out on Irwin's radio show on KUSF. There are few bands you can just blindly trust everything they put out into the world, and YLT are one of them.
Two Live Crew meets Le Trim with the politics of Bikini Kill - Hell Yeah! These three bold and brave women from Florida have created that hip-hop record we always wished existed. Tearing down the often misogynistic and homophobic content of the modern hip-hop scene without a sense of fear or apology and all the while creating tracks that are so damn fierce and on fire. Crunk meets riot grrrl in such fun and pleasing ways! With their super dirty mouths, pumping infectious beats and a spirit that can't be denied it was confusing to find out that some of them identify as being Christians, but that all seems to be irrelevant as their music is so bumping and it's own beast. Their live shows are already legendary, known for playing without their shirts on as they shake their large and in charge bodies with no shame in their game. They've already gained big name fans likes The Gossip and CSS and what makes them so great is that they are equal parts full on fun and full on fire. They don't come off as preachy or uptight, quite the contrary, their songs aim to empower and shake a whole lot of booty in the process and they succeed with flying colors!
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Young Bleed is one of rap-empire-builder Master P's many proteges, and possibly the best. Heavily layered, sing-song rap kind of in the Bone Thugs/Crucial Conflict style, with lots of amazing grunting and sampling (harpsichord, banjo...). Addictive.
At last a follow-up to one of our favorite rap albums of 1998. No longer on No Limit though, so Young Bleed has to do without the trademark "Unghh"'s of Master P. But his trademark southern drawl and his bayou backdrops of banjo, old piano, and swampy atmosphere
are in full effect.
Avid readers of the aQ list will no doubt remember our obsession with Chicago's Footwork scene, also known as 'jukin', we've reviewed records by DJ Nate, DJ Roc, as well as that kick ass Bangs & Works comp, and we played those records to death in the store, each a brilliantly twisted collection of footwork jams, which for the uninitiated is a mutant strain of hip hop that is weirdly skittery and maddeningly repetitive, the music a nonstop barrage of layered loops and repeated vocal fragments, skeletal 808 rhythms, stuttery handclaps, definitely the sort of thing that has some people nodding along and shaking it, while others are tearing their hair out. It's obviously designed for the dancefloor, so stereo listening is a whole different experience, but like those DJ Nate and DJ Roc records, there's definitely something to this stuff that transcends the dancefloor. Never more so than on Space Zone, the debut from 18 year old Young Smoke aka David Davis, who doesn't rely so much on sampling old spacey funk jams, but instead creates his own spaced out atmosphere using a bunch of self made samples from a battery of synths, and has created a seriously futuristic slab of footwork, channeling old cheesy soundtracks, John Carpenter, Tangerine Dream, all sorts of retro futurism into his twisted spaced out sound. On the surface, there's definitely a similarity to those other footwork jams we've reviewed in the past, but Young Smoke's sound is definitely much more composed and musical, still repetitive, and looped, each song essentially a single melody, and a single beat, looped and layered, but check out the opener, the title track, which is a dreamy chunk of almost bubblegum electro, with vocodered vox crooning "Welcome to the space zone" over lazer beam blurts and sci-fi squiggles, all wrapped around a groovy 8 bit skitter. It's the perfect introduction for sure, but it's not all bubblegummy, the second track "Warning", begins with a cascade of kosmische synths, which gives way to a buzzing klaxon, and a robotic voice repeating the word "Warning", while all around, booming bass and stuttering beats swarm around dense swirls of tangled almost psychedelic synth melodies, which leads right into "Futuristic Musick", which wraps a tinkling ghostly melody and shortwave squelch around a churning muted pulse, soon adding some swoonsome synth swells, the drums tribal and abstract, very cosmic and cinematic, and check out the closer, "Heat Impact" which sounds like some eighties action flick theme sliced and diced and transformed into a wild blast of alien hypno-groove stutter-funk.
By now it should be apparent, that this stuff is not all that far removed from all the retro-futurism and kosmische synthscapery that's all the rave these days, give a listen to the samples and you'll see what we mean, it's just that here, it's funked up a bit, wedded to hip hop skitter and electro-alien-stutter, which makes for some serious future dancefloor destruction, but also some big time headphone bliss out.
