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I get pretty excited for new Sage albums. Ever since I saw him destroy Coachella with an amazing set in ‘04 I’ve been a loyal fan. When I had the CD in my hand and I was walking out to the car I actually chanted his name to the tune of Grieg’s famous symphony. Embarrassing, I know! It’s a beautiful day so I can’t wait to cruise and listen to this disc. First things first, I hit up a coffee shop to grab an americano as well as a cinnamon bun (in fact I buy a tray of 6…homies gotta eat too) as I never review rap albums on an empty stomach. The first track “little Houdini” hits and it’s a great outlaw tale about a man breaking out of jail to see his dying mother. The beat is very interesting and Sage rides it hard, switching up between soft-spoken and hard-nosed delivery so easily. In fact, all the beats on this album are “rock-based” in one way or another and most are great. Sage has a good feel for how to rap over a live band. Even though the style of the songs switch with every track, he effortlessly finds the flow needed to capture the emotion of the beat. A couple of the beats are kinda bland and it’s Sage that holds them together, big time. Continue Reading…
I’ve listened to this album before so I can’t give it the true “Birds eye Review” treatment. Guess that means I’m gonna do a straight up old-fashioned review. Fortunately, I’ve heard it before and liked it; so I was looking forward to listening more intently. Right now Victoria, BC is a happening place for hip-hop and C.F.C have been playing locally for many years. This is their second full length album (as far as I know??) but I’m too lazy to Wikipedia that shit…sorry guys! I would say that I like this record a lot more than their first. Better beats, better rapping and a concept idea for the album too! The album art alone is hilarious/ridiculous and fits the personality of the band so well. The album starts up with back-to-back instrumentals (which I thought was a great choice) setting the tone for the whole album. The opening beat might actually be my fav on the album, it’s a ridiculously catchy flute-loop. When the lyrics do start, rappers Deep C and Stevie G seem to adapt to the beats with a breezy, laid-back style. Both have an old-school influenced Continue Reading…
After one listen:
A new full album collaboration between two artists has arrived (yawn!). This time it’s the front man from The Shins, James Mercer, and leading collaboration expert Danger Mouse. Throughout the 2000’s, I would get extremely excited about anything involving Danger Mouse and his control over the production boards.Yet over the last year or so, there have been so many albums with his tag on it, that I sort of lost track. Alternatively, I’ve never really been excited by anything that The Shins had anything to do with. So when I heard about this collaboration, I really didn’t put too much stock into it. Although with high accolades, I was handed the album by my co-worker. When I started the album, I recognized the first track from the radio. The song is called High Road and has a fairly catchy group sing-along hook mixed with a great beat in the background. Continue Reading…
After one listen:
So when I see that Murs and 9th have made a new album, I get really excited. Similar to the excitement that comes from breaking a monthly dry spell. With that said, this is their fourth album together and the previous three have been very good. Once I pop the album in, the first track starts and its banging. Then Kurupt shows up. Are you kidding me? West coast legend and a great guest cameo. I love it when rappers use artists who they admire, to make tracks with, as opposed to creating a song with some “flavor of the minute” rapper. Track two sounds great on my first listen as well. The next track is called Asian Girl and I’m laughing so hard at this track the first time through. Any song which refers to eating Pho is amazing and a must listen. The next standout track is Cigarettes and Liquor, and it’s a banger. From one listen I make the hasty statement, “BEST RAP SONG I’VE HEARD IN 2010 SO FAR.” Crazy hey? I pick up my friend and fellow hip hop head B-Fresh, only to break my “only Continue Reading…
After one listen:
So the Gorillaz have a new album… this only happens once every four years or so. So as much as it’s nice to get a new album of wicked songs, I’m also reminded that I’m still doing the exact same thing as when the last one was released!
I pop the CD in on my way to work. The first track hits and I’m barely awake (classic pre-coffee mode), then something amazing happens; Snoop starts rapping. Its not that Snoop is still good at rapping (he’s not), it’s just that no matter what kind of nonsense he spits out, it always sounds cool. I’m laughing so hard because I swear that Snoop just said, “Belly flop into a bubble bath.” Oh man, this album is going to be good! The first couple of tracks fly by and I’m rocking out. White Flag has a really interesting back and forth with the two rappers. There is an amazing moment when both agree to truce and put up the white flag. About halfway through the album, I pull out a Continue Reading…
After one listen:
I open the package only to find out that this album is three discs. Three discs?? Are you kidding me? Only Kid Rock, Extreme and the Red Hot Chili Peppers would try to pull off such shenanigans to a child born of the Nintendo Generation. My first listen of this album is very hard to describe. I have heard Joanna before but wasn’t really that into it. I respect the music a lot, but don’t find many moments in my life when it is applicable. The new album is kind of what I expected it to be; challenging, beautiful, long, and at some points down right un-listenable. Her voice is a thing of wonder, going from Indie to Opera as fast as any car can go from 0 to 60mph. In fact, I became mesmerized by one particular part of the song, “In California.” At about the 7:55 mark, she manages to shift the pitch of her voice to some sort of inhuman level, almost mimicking a violin. As for the rest of the tracks, I’ve really had a hard time discerning one track from another. They’re just so similar to each other and when the Continue Reading…
AFTER ONE LISTEN:
Is this the Stargate DVD or the RJD2 album? Judging from the cover art it’s very hard to tell. Although, I’m sure James Spader would feel right at home listening to this CD. RJD2 has been making music for 10 years now. I remember the first time I heard Soul Position and instantly fell in love with his amazing knack for creating perfect atmospheric backdrops to the lyrics Blueprint wrote. It was one of the first Rapper/Producer full album collaborations I can remember.
This is his 4th full length album as a solo artist. The first two were great front to back, considered classic by the hip hop community! You probably know him because he created the theme song to your favorite TV show. His third album was not well reviewed and I never really gave it a chance. One of those situations where a friend tells a friend who tells another friend that he read a bad review and then told me about it, so I Continue Reading…
The package Is cool but I can’t figure yet what the hell the statues are all about? Is that the head of David floating about there? I put the Album on at work, it’s really dancy. You see, Hot Chip has always been fairly dance floor ready (get it?), but the first portion of the album sounds like the members have been on vacation at the German love parade or remixing Dance mix 94’. I shouldn’t be surprised that the album is extremely upbeat, there biggest hit to date was “Are you ready for the floor” but I guess on first listen I felt like most of the humor that used to stick to all their music is lost. I also felt like the first tracks ran into each other and I couldn’t tell when a track started or when a track ended. Then I hit the song “Slush” and the ol Hot Chip is starting to return. It’s an amazing ballad complete with hilarious backup vocals and harmony’s that have been long a staple of there production. The following track “Alley Cats” comes on and I’m in love. I break my oath of listening once through and literally listen to the sign 5 Continue Reading…
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