I have been listening to the new Akrobatik for the past couple weeks, and for a first encounter, I am pretty impressed. Boston isn’t really the first place that comes to mind when you think about Hip-Hop from the Northeast, but Akro holds his own on his newest release, Absolute Value, while boasting battle tactics for the conscience few.
The album really caught me by surprise. I hadn’t heard about him at all going into Absolute, but did recognize parts of the album’s entourage. The most obvious attraction was “Put Your Stamp On It,” featuring production by the late J.Dilla and tag-team rhymes with Talib Kweli, but that’s just the beginning of guests that show up. Mr.Lif and Little Brother chip in on “Beast Mode” and “Be Prepared” respectively, even legendary MC Chuck. D throws down some narration on “Kindred” ft Brenna Gethers. Akro boasts, “...check the archives, back in 95” on the title track, and on Absolute, there’s a veteran crew to vouch for him.
Akro’s delivery is loud and in your face, just like his New York neighbors, but it’s the content that hits your from a different angle. He preaches that there is too much conscious Hip-Hop afraid to pull the trigger behind the mic, and too much commercial Hip-Hop selling guns not music, and on one hand I agree, but also have to take issue with the notion of an absolute voice in Hip-Hop. Akro has a style rooted in old school greats like KRS One, which is pretty much impossible to knock, it’s when his attack slows down on the R&B tracks, “Kindred” and “Rain,” that his Absolute Value seems to run out of ammo. The last track, “Back Home To You,” is a dedication to his wife and seems out of place, but I can’t hate, you should stick around anyway for the hidden electro-funk that follows.
Like I said, I can’t hate. The album is full of huge beats and Akro stands tall with them. “Soul Glo,” “Black Hell Breaks Loose” ft. Willie Evans Jr. & Therapy, “If We Can’t Build” ft. Bumpy Knuckles, and the title track rain down like angry fists and capture Akro at his best.
With the big names like Gnarls Barkley dropping this past month, and many to come in still a young year, Absolute Value probably won't claim this year's crown, which is fine by Akro; he’s got blueprints to the castle and stockpiles of dynamite. Check this one out.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Thrash to Death
Back in the nineties Metal was out, Punk was in. Remember when all your friends loved Reel Big Fish, Offspring was on MTV, Infest played 924 Gilman, and NOFX owned the Warped Tour stage? Things have changed.
The truth is that music does not possess this kind of solitude, since genre’s bleed into one another over time, but that is a different path. It’s still safe to say that in recent years Metal has seen a return to power, but it’s only a matter of time before the revolution. Bomb the Music Industry!’s Get Warmer was my favorite Punk album last year, and over the weekend I went searching for early favorites of 08’.
Paint it Black’s New Lexicon caught my attention when I recognized a Kid Dynamite connection. East coast hardcore junkie and Kid Dynamite guitarist, Dan Yemin , is in on the act, this time with vocal duties. The Kid Dynamite sound is there, spewing hardcore that gathers its form in catchy breakdowns, opener “The Ledge” puts this on full display, but that is not all New Lexicon has to offer. On the outro to “We Will Not” Yemin’s posi-ranting “Even when the ship has run aground / Don’t let the bastards get you fuckin’ down!” leads into background keys and dissonant electronic drums. This aspect is used sparingly over all, but on a hardcore album, a little goes a long way.
Short and mean is the name. Ceremony. They're a California power violence unit that have gained attention in the North Bay scene recently. Last year saw them release an E.P., Scared People (2007) that made waves in the Punk underground. They have a full length coming out late summer/early fall on Bridge Nine records entitled The Full Length, which I anticipate will receive tons of hype in the months to come. Their sound has been compared to Crossed Out, lurching riffs that explode into freak-outs, but power violence is Punk in a straight jacket, so freedom to experiment here is really limited. It’s on songs like “Making With The Stale Air” that they manage to capture my attention by balancing the attack with a jittery thrash riff.
In the Metal glory days of the eighties, it was thrash that ruled. Metal and Punk were thrown together, and a movement began* that would solidify America in Rock’s dark arts forever. The truth is that finding good, never mind great, thrash these days is hard to come by. Extremes in contemporary metal have caused thrash to essentially turn into death metal with heavy thrash tendencies, like Year of Desolation, who put out a wicked S/T last year and nailed this style. I ran into a band that does the exact same, just twenty years earlier. Corrupt is a Swedish thrash metal band that play a combo of thrash/death, but in the Kreator/Dark Angel/Slayer vein. It’s grimy and blistering, but those infectious riffs are what kill me in the end. The chorus and guitar solo on “Profits Prevail,” off their E.P. Silence Equals Death (2006), will bring a white-knuckle smile to your face, and remind you of why you still listen to those old Thrash albums over and over. They are slated to release a LP later this year on Blood Harvest records entitled Slavestate Serenades. Corrupt is a really good thrash band that I bet will only get better. Go!
*Sure NWOBHM/First-wave black metal were important too. sure.
The truth is that music does not possess this kind of solitude, since genre’s bleed into one another over time, but that is a different path. It’s still safe to say that in recent years Metal has seen a return to power, but it’s only a matter of time before the revolution. Bomb the Music Industry!’s Get Warmer was my favorite Punk album last year, and over the weekend I went searching for early favorites of 08’.
Paint it Black’s New Lexicon caught my attention when I recognized a Kid Dynamite connection. East coast hardcore junkie and Kid Dynamite guitarist, Dan Yemin , is in on the act, this time with vocal duties. The Kid Dynamite sound is there, spewing hardcore that gathers its form in catchy breakdowns, opener “The Ledge” puts this on full display, but that is not all New Lexicon has to offer. On the outro to “We Will Not” Yemin’s posi-ranting “Even when the ship has run aground / Don’t let the bastards get you fuckin’ down!” leads into background keys and dissonant electronic drums. This aspect is used sparingly over all, but on a hardcore album, a little goes a long way.
Short and mean is the name. Ceremony. They're a California power violence unit that have gained attention in the North Bay scene recently. Last year saw them release an E.P., Scared People (2007) that made waves in the Punk underground. They have a full length coming out late summer/early fall on Bridge Nine records entitled The Full Length, which I anticipate will receive tons of hype in the months to come. Their sound has been compared to Crossed Out, lurching riffs that explode into freak-outs, but power violence is Punk in a straight jacket, so freedom to experiment here is really limited. It’s on songs like “Making With The Stale Air” that they manage to capture my attention by balancing the attack with a jittery thrash riff.
In the Metal glory days of the eighties, it was thrash that ruled. Metal and Punk were thrown together, and a movement began* that would solidify America in Rock’s dark arts forever. The truth is that finding good, never mind great, thrash these days is hard to come by. Extremes in contemporary metal have caused thrash to essentially turn into death metal with heavy thrash tendencies, like Year of Desolation, who put out a wicked S/T last year and nailed this style. I ran into a band that does the exact same, just twenty years earlier. Corrupt is a Swedish thrash metal band that play a combo of thrash/death, but in the Kreator/Dark Angel/Slayer vein. It’s grimy and blistering, but those infectious riffs are what kill me in the end. The chorus and guitar solo on “Profits Prevail,” off their E.P. Silence Equals Death (2006), will bring a white-knuckle smile to your face, and remind you of why you still listen to those old Thrash albums over and over. They are slated to release a LP later this year on Blood Harvest records entitled Slavestate Serenades. Corrupt is a really good thrash band that I bet will only get better. Go!
*Sure NWOBHM/First-wave black metal were important too. sure.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Old Growth
The new Christine Fellows finally arrived last week and it’s spindly arms have entangled me back and over again. No one writes songs like she does. There have been comparisons to the Mountain Goats (John Darnielle), and I see why. They both have a dense lyrical style and an instrumental approach that leans towards the singer-songwriter warmth, instead of freak-folk obscurity that’s all the rage. More than any of these comparisons could say, the two belong in an elite group of lyricists out there. That is what their albums are all about, and it’s what I knew Nevertheless would be about. Ever so spindly, I am caught in a new place.
Nevertheless is a burgeoning adventure, spilling out of the house and into the spring overgrowth. Christine’s previous release, Paper Anniversary (2006), was a handful of diamonds, as brilliant as they were precious. Nevertheless is dramatically fleshed out in comparison, saturating in the spaces previously left hollow. Broad strings arrangements, backing choral vocals, and newly prominent drums have Christine and friends painting in the details. “What Makes the Cherry Red” is a montage at dawn, brimming over with droplets of percussion, wild strings, fluttering piano, and chirping birds. On “Yours, And With Ever Grateful Wonder” the song eventually digresses to the sound of a typewriter and spoken lyrics. She captures the opposing direction on the title track; with one of her most pop structured pieces to date. This time the songwriting has turned into a splendor all it’s own.
The lyrics are nothing less. Nevertheless is a phrase adaptation from author Marianne Moore. In the liner notes it reads that the title song and “What Are Years?” are responses to poems written by Moore, and she also references W.B. Yeats in “The Spinster’s Almanac.” The poetry penned here is breath taking, and quieter moments on the album, like “To A Prize Bird,” give her tender voice a chance to be alone with the words.
While most songs, in true Fellows form, don’t break the three-minute mark, they reveal a powerful new depth. Nevertheless showcases Christine Fellows as one of music’s lyrical heroines, wielding spells and new light. Destined to be one of this year’s best.
Nevertheless is a burgeoning adventure, spilling out of the house and into the spring overgrowth. Christine’s previous release, Paper Anniversary (2006), was a handful of diamonds, as brilliant as they were precious. Nevertheless is dramatically fleshed out in comparison, saturating in the spaces previously left hollow. Broad strings arrangements, backing choral vocals, and newly prominent drums have Christine and friends painting in the details. “What Makes the Cherry Red” is a montage at dawn, brimming over with droplets of percussion, wild strings, fluttering piano, and chirping birds. On “Yours, And With Ever Grateful Wonder” the song eventually digresses to the sound of a typewriter and spoken lyrics. She captures the opposing direction on the title track; with one of her most pop structured pieces to date. This time the songwriting has turned into a splendor all it’s own.
The lyrics are nothing less. Nevertheless is a phrase adaptation from author Marianne Moore. In the liner notes it reads that the title song and “What Are Years?” are responses to poems written by Moore, and she also references W.B. Yeats in “The Spinster’s Almanac.” The poetry penned here is breath taking, and quieter moments on the album, like “To A Prize Bird,” give her tender voice a chance to be alone with the words.
While most songs, in true Fellows form, don’t break the three-minute mark, they reveal a powerful new depth. Nevertheless showcases Christine Fellows as one of music’s lyrical heroines, wielding spells and new light. Destined to be one of this year’s best.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Epic in Concert
Last spring some friends from Portland invited me to hang at a local concert in Eugene. They had some friends who were traveling down the coast on tour, opening up for a band called Loom. True to college form, I ended up taking the opportunity to avoid my schoolwork in favor of a show and drinks with friends. I sadly missed most of openers, including their friends, but I did get to see all of Loom’s set. They came off like a band that was either five years behind the scene, or five ahead. I was given quick rundown of what to expect, At The Drive-In post-hardcore intensity with a violin that brings to mind Cursive’s instrumental formula. What got left out were the skirmishing math breakdowns that pass through briefly, then disappear behind an angry mob of chorus. By the end of the show, I had joined into the crowd.
The night only got better. My friends picked me a Loom T-shirt and E.P., Angler (2006), as well as the record label, Exigent, sampler mix, The Colors of Sound Breathing V. 1. I gave the sampler a listen and really liked two bands, Gaza and Sweet Jesus. Sweet Jesus has release just a S/T, two song EP, and I have not heard any noise about future recordings or happenings, which is sad because they played a badass hybrid of punk spazz and metal sludge. Gaza has gained some attention and have released an EP, East (2004), and an LP on Black Market Activities, I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die (2006), to solid reviews. The bands lyrics are whimsical, citing American Idol's Ryan Seacrest amongst others. In the end though, the lyrics are unintelligible, like most extreme metal vocals since the late eighties. Debating over the lyrical strengths is dwarfed by the intensity of the vocal performance, and Gaza's are nasty. What makes them stand out is that they demonstrate little concern for a specific genre convention; the guy is just trying to heave his lungs from his chest. The bands sound is a Math/Grindcore combo, somewhere between Botch and Meshuggah. The guitar work and grind-wall are bound by some chunky time signatures that stomp all over each other. In the broad world of metalcore, I can see these guys getting some love from the Dillinger/Converge pack that’s ready to step outside and go on the prowl.
This month I decided to check back in after not hearing much from the label. While Gaza has moved on to bigger things and Sweet Jesus hasn’t really moved at all, I was happy to see a new band making a their presence felt. Exigent is based in Salt Lake City but has recently moved into Portland and signed a band called Diesto. Isle of Marauder is Diesto’s first release with Exigent is some of the best doom metal I have run across this year. While Neurosis has been the genre’s bulldozer since the early nineties, bands like Isis and Pelican have brought progressive doom to the surface from the underground and are headliners of a recent trend in American metal, and now with Marauder, Diesto have begun carved their name in landscape. Their approach, in an already crowded room, grabs your attention almost immediately by scraping against the hammer throw with some Industrial-style production. It’s still heavy as hell, but rings coarse when compared to dominant codes in the scene. On their band MySpace page they list "soul" as an genre influence. You can hear it, if anywhere, in the guitar solos strangely enough. The band also shows an early affinity for rock dynamics, like on “Monarch,” when instead of just rolling down a long treaded path, a seven minute march charges ahead into fist-throwing punk glory. The epic closer "Black Water" ceeps in with leading guitars, punishes for over ten minutes, then has the guitars return only to put the album to rest. Isle of Marauder is doom metal churned out of a junkyard crusher, and for Diesto, a very promising start. Check these guys out.
The night only got better. My friends picked me a Loom T-shirt and E.P., Angler (2006), as well as the record label, Exigent, sampler mix, The Colors of Sound Breathing V. 1. I gave the sampler a listen and really liked two bands, Gaza and Sweet Jesus. Sweet Jesus has release just a S/T, two song EP, and I have not heard any noise about future recordings or happenings, which is sad because they played a badass hybrid of punk spazz and metal sludge. Gaza has gained some attention and have released an EP, East (2004), and an LP on Black Market Activities, I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die (2006), to solid reviews. The bands lyrics are whimsical, citing American Idol's Ryan Seacrest amongst others. In the end though, the lyrics are unintelligible, like most extreme metal vocals since the late eighties. Debating over the lyrical strengths is dwarfed by the intensity of the vocal performance, and Gaza's are nasty. What makes them stand out is that they demonstrate little concern for a specific genre convention; the guy is just trying to heave his lungs from his chest. The bands sound is a Math/Grindcore combo, somewhere between Botch and Meshuggah. The guitar work and grind-wall are bound by some chunky time signatures that stomp all over each other. In the broad world of metalcore, I can see these guys getting some love from the Dillinger/Converge pack that’s ready to step outside and go on the prowl.
This month I decided to check back in after not hearing much from the label. While Gaza has moved on to bigger things and Sweet Jesus hasn’t really moved at all, I was happy to see a new band making a their presence felt. Exigent is based in Salt Lake City but has recently moved into Portland and signed a band called Diesto. Isle of Marauder is Diesto’s first release with Exigent is some of the best doom metal I have run across this year. While Neurosis has been the genre’s bulldozer since the early nineties, bands like Isis and Pelican have brought progressive doom to the surface from the underground and are headliners of a recent trend in American metal, and now with Marauder, Diesto have begun carved their name in landscape. Their approach, in an already crowded room, grabs your attention almost immediately by scraping against the hammer throw with some Industrial-style production. It’s still heavy as hell, but rings coarse when compared to dominant codes in the scene. On their band MySpace page they list "soul" as an genre influence. You can hear it, if anywhere, in the guitar solos strangely enough. The band also shows an early affinity for rock dynamics, like on “Monarch,” when instead of just rolling down a long treaded path, a seven minute march charges ahead into fist-throwing punk glory. The epic closer "Black Water" ceeps in with leading guitars, punishes for over ten minutes, then has the guitars return only to put the album to rest. Isle of Marauder is doom metal churned out of a junkyard crusher, and for Diesto, a very promising start. Check these guys out.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Committed
Today it snowed and I decided to give the new Ghostface a listen. As a precursor to listening to the album, I had heard all sorts of things said about the Clan regarding their new album and RZA’s production not being up to par. Both albums dropped within a week of each other, and with the added drama, it’s not hard to imagine battle lines being drawn between the two. This aside, The Big Doe Rehab continues the streak of amazing albums by Ghostface in recent years. It’s rare to find an artist that is this consistent. Big Doe doesn’t have the scope of Fishscale (2006), keeping subject matter in the status quo of drugs, women, and money. Fishscale was at times confessional, reflecting on the fast life. Rehab doesn’t dwell on the past as much as it gets caught up in the good times ("We Celebrate” ft. Kid Capri), while his talent for dramatic story telling is kept in tact, showcased on part II of the drug robbery series “Shakey Dog,” ft. Raekwon and Lolita. Production credits include The Hitmen amongst others, and continues Ghost’s signature feel for soulful sampling and New York ruckus. This is classic Ghostface Killah and just a flat-out great album. Thank you snow day.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Side Tracked
For the past couple years I have made it a major priority in my life to go up to Portland and see the Mountain Goats perform at the Doug Fir Lounge. The Mountain Goats are a must see and the Doug Fir is a hip new spot in the rose city with a cool basement stage area, probably why John decides to play there every year. This year, he is actually coming to Eugene and playing the WOW hall, so I am actually debating seeing both shows this year. I could go on about the Mountain Goats* forever being one of my favorite bands period, but this sojourn has come to serve a different purpose as well.
Back in 06’ I walked about ten minutes late into the opening act for the Mountain Goats, a single woman was on stage with a very small arrangement of piano, keyboard, and iBook. She sang and played the keys behind a computerized percussion track, nothing really jaw-dropping at first listen, but I soon warmed up to something unfamiliar. Her name was Barbara Morgenstern, she’s German, sings in German, and writes some amazingly lush tunes for a living. Her piano and voice stood nicely in contrast to the digital background, partly because she was singing in German, a language that I know exactly kaput. As soon as I got home I looked into her newest release, The Grass is Always Greener (2006), and loved it.
The next year a band named the Pony Up! was rolling out the carpet. While I was less impressed this time around, a couple of drinks with some friends had us later wandering over to pick up their album, Make Love To The Judges With Your Eyes (2006), and flirt a little with the band. The album has grown on me, despite not having one of their best songs “Wet,” which I got to see live, while it did feature cool song title and single “The Truth About Cats And Dogs (Is That They Die).” If you can’t get enough toe-tapping indie pop, these are your girls.
This year the Goats crew are bringing along fellow North Carolina scenesters, The Moaners. They’re a female duo playing syrupy noise rock and it will be interesting to see an opener with some teeth this time. The band draws from Pavement/Sonic Youth's cluttered distortion and the upbeat, post-punk tempo that almost seems standard in today’s indie world. What makes The Moaners fresh is a grating blues guitar, slathered on top of the familiar mix. The guitar howls, not in a Hendrix kind of way, but like a stray dog at the front door. Similar “duo” bands like the Kills don’t get this sloppy, who instead scratch at dance rock from the outside looking in, while the Moaners let their hair down and get their hands dirty. There's even a Saw and Harmonica that find time to slide in, adding a little depth beyond the standard guitar/drum uniform. While still a young band, they have captured my attention and got me debating which LP to snatch up when I see them in person, I'm just happy they chose to moan on my front stoop.
*The new Mountain Goats album, Heretic Pride, is out Feb. 19th. He has released one song over the Internet and is soon coming out with a video directed by Ace Norton. Goats rule!
Back in 06’ I walked about ten minutes late into the opening act for the Mountain Goats, a single woman was on stage with a very small arrangement of piano, keyboard, and iBook. She sang and played the keys behind a computerized percussion track, nothing really jaw-dropping at first listen, but I soon warmed up to something unfamiliar. Her name was Barbara Morgenstern, she’s German, sings in German, and writes some amazingly lush tunes for a living. Her piano and voice stood nicely in contrast to the digital background, partly because she was singing in German, a language that I know exactly kaput. As soon as I got home I looked into her newest release, The Grass is Always Greener (2006), and loved it.
The next year a band named the Pony Up! was rolling out the carpet. While I was less impressed this time around, a couple of drinks with some friends had us later wandering over to pick up their album, Make Love To The Judges With Your Eyes (2006), and flirt a little with the band. The album has grown on me, despite not having one of their best songs “Wet,” which I got to see live, while it did feature cool song title and single “The Truth About Cats And Dogs (Is That They Die).” If you can’t get enough toe-tapping indie pop, these are your girls.
This year the Goats crew are bringing along fellow North Carolina scenesters, The Moaners. They’re a female duo playing syrupy noise rock and it will be interesting to see an opener with some teeth this time. The band draws from Pavement/Sonic Youth's cluttered distortion and the upbeat, post-punk tempo that almost seems standard in today’s indie world. What makes The Moaners fresh is a grating blues guitar, slathered on top of the familiar mix. The guitar howls, not in a Hendrix kind of way, but like a stray dog at the front door. Similar “duo” bands like the Kills don’t get this sloppy, who instead scratch at dance rock from the outside looking in, while the Moaners let their hair down and get their hands dirty. There's even a Saw and Harmonica that find time to slide in, adding a little depth beyond the standard guitar/drum uniform. While still a young band, they have captured my attention and got me debating which LP to snatch up when I see them in person, I'm just happy they chose to moan on my front stoop.
*The new Mountain Goats album, Heretic Pride, is out Feb. 19th. He has released one song over the Internet and is soon coming out with a video directed by Ace Norton. Goats rule!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
In Review
Now that the year has come to an end, I feel obligated to deliver a “Best-of-Year” list. I think that to some degree, these miss the entire point of good criticism because music doesn't conform to a linear set of standards. There is no constructive way to rate albums against each other since different genres strive for a different emotional release, and to a greater degree, language does little to describe emotion. Comparing Big Business’s Here Come the Waterworks against Marissa Nadler's Songs III: Bird on the Water is a free fall through the abyss and all I've got is a flashlight. It’s been good 07', so long:
Profanatica – De Domonatia
Babyshambles – Shotter’s Nation
Rock Plaza Central – Are We Not Horses
Prodigy – Return of the Mac
Old Time Relijun – Catharsis In Crisis
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
Laethora – March of the Parasite
Pissed Jeans – Hope for Men
Bomb the Music Industry! – Get Warmer
Scarface – Made
The Long Blondes – Someone to Drive You Home
Pig Destroyer – Phantom Limb
Bowerbirds – Hymns for a Dark Horse
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
These are in no order at all. Like I said, things like this are difficult contain. For example, Sa-Ra’s Hollywood Recordings didn’t make my list but was one of the most entertaining/funky pieces of music I have heard in a while. There were also tons of albums that I never got to listen to, including Christine Fellows's Nevertheless* and Foetopsy's In the Bathroom. Then there are some records that I technically shouldn't’t really be listening to in the first place, like Vampire Weekend’s S/T debut, which is officially released later this month. Hell, I haven’t even heard the new Radiohead album. On that note, don’t bother me - I’m busy.
*Sixshooter! I am STILL waiting…album please.
Profanatica – De Domonatia
Babyshambles – Shotter’s Nation
Rock Plaza Central – Are We Not Horses
Prodigy – Return of the Mac
Old Time Relijun – Catharsis In Crisis
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
Laethora – March of the Parasite
Pissed Jeans – Hope for Men
Bomb the Music Industry! – Get Warmer
Scarface – Made
The Long Blondes – Someone to Drive You Home
Pig Destroyer – Phantom Limb
Bowerbirds – Hymns for a Dark Horse
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
These are in no order at all. Like I said, things like this are difficult contain. For example, Sa-Ra’s Hollywood Recordings didn’t make my list but was one of the most entertaining/funky pieces of music I have heard in a while. There were also tons of albums that I never got to listen to, including Christine Fellows's Nevertheless* and Foetopsy's In the Bathroom. Then there are some records that I technically shouldn't’t really be listening to in the first place, like Vampire Weekend’s S/T debut, which is officially released later this month. Hell, I haven’t even heard the new Radiohead album. On that note, don’t bother me - I’m busy.
*Sixshooter! I am STILL waiting…album please.
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