Journey of 'Bad' music...
Because it's been a while since I went to PopTunes or Spinstreet on Poplar to actually get or even look at CD's, I'm deciding to at least show what I was able to obtain in the past week (horrendously rushed, short and horrible reviews but hey, what do you expect?):
N*E*R*D - Seeing Sounds
Tracks to Look For:Lazer Gun, Spaz, Anti-Matter, Everyone Nose
Personally, I'm glad for this quarter of the 2008 music year despite many of my favorites not getting any major recognition in the form of Radio play. N*E*R*D, however, may be able to breach that glass ceiling with a few, comparably, 'club head' hits that still maintain a musical substance that's been lacking in that small niche of Hip Hop. Rather than stick with the repetitive drum beat that only shows how well your car or stereo can handle a lot of bass, they present hip hop with a flavor of Rock and Electronic style with Seeing Sounds. Every track seems to push the limits of what the genre can be without completely ignoring the basic tenants that spawned hip hop in the first place. Suffice to say, the CD doesn't disappoint.
9.0/10.0
Cunninlynguists - Dirty Acres
Tracks to Look For: The Park (Fresh Air), Yellow Lines
I don't post on forums, nor really go to many of them at that, but despite the 'drama' that DA generates (of which I try to remain oblivious of), the Music Forum has been good to me when it comes to actually getting some recommendations for artists that are lesser known or underground. Of the suggestions, Cunninlynguists has always come up at least once or twice in many a thread and that's more than enough for me to try and figure out what all the hype is about this relatively unhyped group. Dirty Acres, as good as it is, sometimes seems to have an identity crisis. It doesn't know what it wants to be as, with a few tracks, you get a mellow meld of instrumental and vocal abilities with some pretty nice collaborations before it yields to the dirty south style that is hit or miss with a diverse crowd of listeners, in my opinion.
7.5/10.0
Nujabes - Modal Soul
Tracks to Look For: Flowers, Music Is Mine, Eclipse (Feat. Substantial), Ordinary Joe (Feat. Terry Callier)
Japanese producer and artist Nujabes returns with an album that hardly fails at being memorable. Still maintaining the jazzy style of Metaphorical Music, Modal Soul shows that Nujabes can stay true to his sound without making a copy of his previously released works. The return collaborators Substantial and Cise Starr (from Lady Brown on Metaphorical Music) bring back a vocal style and ability that mixes well with the newly featured artists Apani B, Terry Callier, and Uyama Hiroto while the backing beats of Nujabes bring an almost nostalgic sound reminiscent of Miles Davis' Doo Bop album.
9.5/10.0
Barenaked Ladies - Maroon & Stunt (
matthais)
Tracks to Look For: Pinch Me, One Week, Falling For the First Time, Leave
Driving from Penn State to Jersey and back, a certain speckfox decided to subject me to some 'bad' music. Now, I've not been oblivious enough to have never heard the songs from Barenaked Ladies, hell, I know a lot of the hits from the band. Only thing is, I've been way too lazy to try and pick up an album. So, to make up for it, I picked up two: Maroon and Stunt. I figure that's a pretty damn good place to start and, once again, wasn't disappointed by a recommended group.
8.5/10 x2
The Roots - Rising Down
Tracks to Look For: Singing Man, Get Busy, Rising Up
Thank god for the latest Roots release. The Tipping Point and Game Theory of previous years left a lot to be desired as the tracks seemed to deviate from the heavily involved instrumental sounds that was their signature in Illadelph Halflife and Things Fall Apart. Rising Down brings it back full circle as the album greatly implements the drumming ability of ?uestlove and the old school stylings of Black Thought, pulling together what I would nominate as one of their top three albums. The only complaint? Way too short.
8.5/10.0
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (Blame
ibuncloudslayer)
Tracks to Look For: Gravity Eyelids, Prodigal, Trains
I completely blame the influences of Ransom and Ibun for my urge to pick up this album blindly. Didn't know what to expect or, even, how to react to what I was about to listen to. To say the very least, I was pleasantly surprised. To say the least I know for a fact I'm keeping, or have been keeping, an eye out for their other works just to get a better grip on their sound.
8.0/10
Lupe Fiasco - Tapemasters Inc - Follow the Leader (Chicago friends sent that one)
Tracks to Look For: Us Placers (feat. Kanye West & Pharrell), Blackout, Lupe the Killer
Despite a Monk's bad review of a concert, which I'm actually taking to heart until I get the chance to check for myself, a few friends of mine found a Chicago mixtape of the West Side Windy City native and sent it to me through the snail mail. I expected nothing and, to tell the truth,
nothing is what I got. Tis the risk you run when you're listening to a mixtape rather than a polished, studio set. Aside from a few tracks that hit (posted above), the others missed worst than a blind archer as you received mere snippets of "maybe" tracks and got a load of the same ol, same ol, elsewhere in the album. Not to mention the constant play of "Tapemasters Inc." over the intros to each song which destroyed any attempts to salvage the album as something I'd recommend to another listener.
6.5/10.0
N*E*R*D - Seeing Sounds
Tracks to Look For:Lazer Gun, Spaz, Anti-Matter, Everyone Nose
Personally, I'm glad for this quarter of the 2008 music year despite many of my favorites not getting any major recognition in the form of Radio play. N*E*R*D, however, may be able to breach that glass ceiling with a few, comparably, 'club head' hits that still maintain a musical substance that's been lacking in that small niche of Hip Hop. Rather than stick with the repetitive drum beat that only shows how well your car or stereo can handle a lot of bass, they present hip hop with a flavor of Rock and Electronic style with Seeing Sounds. Every track seems to push the limits of what the genre can be without completely ignoring the basic tenants that spawned hip hop in the first place. Suffice to say, the CD doesn't disappoint.
9.0/10.0
Cunninlynguists - Dirty Acres
Tracks to Look For: The Park (Fresh Air), Yellow Lines
I don't post on forums, nor really go to many of them at that, but despite the 'drama' that DA generates (of which I try to remain oblivious of), the Music Forum has been good to me when it comes to actually getting some recommendations for artists that are lesser known or underground. Of the suggestions, Cunninlynguists has always come up at least once or twice in many a thread and that's more than enough for me to try and figure out what all the hype is about this relatively unhyped group. Dirty Acres, as good as it is, sometimes seems to have an identity crisis. It doesn't know what it wants to be as, with a few tracks, you get a mellow meld of instrumental and vocal abilities with some pretty nice collaborations before it yields to the dirty south style that is hit or miss with a diverse crowd of listeners, in my opinion.
7.5/10.0
Nujabes - Modal Soul
Tracks to Look For: Flowers, Music Is Mine, Eclipse (Feat. Substantial), Ordinary Joe (Feat. Terry Callier)
Japanese producer and artist Nujabes returns with an album that hardly fails at being memorable. Still maintaining the jazzy style of Metaphorical Music, Modal Soul shows that Nujabes can stay true to his sound without making a copy of his previously released works. The return collaborators Substantial and Cise Starr (from Lady Brown on Metaphorical Music) bring back a vocal style and ability that mixes well with the newly featured artists Apani B, Terry Callier, and Uyama Hiroto while the backing beats of Nujabes bring an almost nostalgic sound reminiscent of Miles Davis' Doo Bop album.
9.5/10.0
Barenaked Ladies - Maroon & Stunt (
matthais)
Tracks to Look For: Pinch Me, One Week, Falling For the First Time, Leave
Driving from Penn State to Jersey and back, a certain speckfox decided to subject me to some 'bad' music. Now, I've not been oblivious enough to have never heard the songs from Barenaked Ladies, hell, I know a lot of the hits from the band. Only thing is, I've been way too lazy to try and pick up an album. So, to make up for it, I picked up two: Maroon and Stunt. I figure that's a pretty damn good place to start and, once again, wasn't disappointed by a recommended group.
8.5/10 x2
The Roots - Rising Down
Tracks to Look For: Singing Man, Get Busy, Rising Up
Thank god for the latest Roots release. The Tipping Point and Game Theory of previous years left a lot to be desired as the tracks seemed to deviate from the heavily involved instrumental sounds that was their signature in Illadelph Halflife and Things Fall Apart. Rising Down brings it back full circle as the album greatly implements the drumming ability of ?uestlove and the old school stylings of Black Thought, pulling together what I would nominate as one of their top three albums. The only complaint? Way too short.
8.5/10.0
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (Blame
ibuncloudslayer)
Tracks to Look For: Gravity Eyelids, Prodigal, Trains
I completely blame the influences of Ransom and Ibun for my urge to pick up this album blindly. Didn't know what to expect or, even, how to react to what I was about to listen to. To say the very least, I was pleasantly surprised. To say the least I know for a fact I'm keeping, or have been keeping, an eye out for their other works just to get a better grip on their sound.
8.0/10
Lupe Fiasco - Tapemasters Inc - Follow the Leader (Chicago friends sent that one)
Tracks to Look For: Us Placers (feat. Kanye West & Pharrell), Blackout, Lupe the Killer
Despite a Monk's bad review of a concert, which I'm actually taking to heart until I get the chance to check for myself, a few friends of mine found a Chicago mixtape of the West Side Windy City native and sent it to me through the snail mail. I expected nothing and, to tell the truth,
nothing is what I got. Tis the risk you run when you're listening to a mixtape rather than a polished, studio set. Aside from a few tracks that hit (posted above), the others missed worst than a blind archer as you received mere snippets of "maybe" tracks and got a load of the same ol, same ol, elsewhere in the album. Not to mention the constant play of "Tapemasters Inc." over the intros to each song which destroyed any attempts to salvage the album as something I'd recommend to another listener.
6.5/10.0