Time Waster

I've been spending forever using Who Sampled? lately, following sample and remix chains to the most ancient and obscure ends of the music spectrum, most of which I had never even heard of. Peruse at your own risk.

Album of the Day: Clever Jeff - Jazz Hop Soul

The title is pretty apt here, nothing but hip hop with strong jazz undertones. Nothing particularly special, at least on the first couple of listens, but there's no real reason to avoid grabbing this one if you can. The lyrics and flow are on point for the most part, moving back and forth between straightforward and a little more abstract, but the beats are easily the strongest aspects of this album. They're your standard mid-90's breaks, but with a little hard bop interwoven in, particularly the trumpet.

Notable songs: 'Catch Rek', 'Some Shoots', 'Down Low'

Album of the Day: Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

Wailing guitars, mellow melodies, and beautiful bass lines: just what you would expect from a true funk album. Despite the name, beautiful is about the only apt adjective I can use to describe this album. It starts off slowly: a creeping bass line, scratchy guitar, and wailing voice all give the title track an eerie feel. There's only one line in the entire ten minute piece: "Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time/Cause y’all have knocked her up/I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe/I was not offended/For I knew I had to rise above it all, or drown in my own shit." It's just awesome. I can't convey it any better than that, it's best to just listen:

After the title track, the album switches to more traditional-styled funk, if you can call it that considering how well put together it is. It almost has a gospel feel at times, even if the lyrics are anything but ('Super Stupid' sounds like it's about an addict who buys the wrong drug and goes crazy). The album ends at a polar opposite of where it started: 'Wars of Armageddon' is also around ten minutes, but is a loud, psychedelic song, full of weird samples, drum-heavy melodies, and odd special effects, but is no less powerful. It makes me feel like my brain is melting.

Notable songs: 'Maggot Brain', 'Super Stupid', 'Wars of Armageddon'

Album of the Day: X-Clan - Return from Mecca

I have to confess, while I like X-Clan, so far nothing I've listened to has been able to hold a candle to 'Seeds of Evolution' by Dark Sun Riders, so I'm coming into this with somewhat tempered expectations. However, as long as Brother J is involved, you can't really go wrong. He immediately makes his presence felt with the lyric-heavy 'Aragorn' (“stay stem cell music/mass production of clones”). As always, the album is littered with militant samples and beats that range from mediocre to mindblowing. Wikipedia calls them “afrocentric,” and I think that's about as apt a description as I can think of. Both the lyrics and the beat of 'Why U Doin That' scream of regret and lament, both of the world we live in and the one we have failed to create for ourselves. The whole thing, much like 'Mainstream Outlawz,' which came out two years later than this one, feels like it it would fit right in in 1994, though I haven't decided whether or not that's a good thing. I love the old school beats and lyrics heavily influenced by their views of their own culture, and it's certainly better than a lot of stuff I've heard recently, but there's something fundamentally different between this and, say, anything Talib Kweli has done in the last five years or so. I think KRS-One's guest spot in 'Speak the Truth' exemplifies this perfectly. Perhaps it's because I've spent a lot of time with industrial or sample-based beats, so the old school turntable-and-drum-machine beats sound almost foreign to me. This theme is completely thrown off-kilter with the club beat used in 'Positrons,' which just feels out of place here. That said, there are very few artists I can name off the top of my head who can so easily balance head-bobbing superficial sounds with conscious themes and lyrics (look no further than 'Prison,' a heavy track about consequences that can last across generations, or 'Locomotion' “to unify cultures/liberate your mind/rebuild our foundation/one track at a time”). 'Space People' reminds me so much of Blackalicious that I kept waiting for Gift of Gab to jump in and start rhyming. There's an interesting mix of old and new in 'Trump Card,' which features an old school beat with newer-feeling lyrics. The album ends with 'Culture United' a reggae-influenced track featuring Damian Marley abou thte need to embrace and promote one's culture, and 'Respect,' an absolutely powerful track bemoaning the treatment of citizens (“yet I'm treated like a convict/I'm not a terrorist, all I want is respect”). It's such a good feeling when you can play an album and get nothing but good beats and good rhymes. Pure hip hop, nothing less.

Album of the Day: Thelonius Monk with John Coltrane - The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings

A nearly complete set of recordings of, obviously, Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane, including alternate takes and versions, that were scattered about on a few different albums. It manages to retain a hard bop tone, despite being for the most part piano-heavy rather than focusing on the saxophone, if for no other reason than it is impossible for Coltrane to be truly subdued, no matter who he is playing with. 'Monk's Mood' starts off with a beautifully mellow piano piece by Monk, and Coltrane saunters into the song and layers over it with his saxophone. The whole track has a dusty wine cellar feel to it, like you're relaxing at the end of a long day. At the same time, it feels like there is something missing, each note feels like it is covering up an empty space, but I don't know what would fill it. 'Crepuscule with Nellie' is a little bit more up-tempo, and piano-heavy, and still retains that smoky-jazz-club feel to it, in part because of the drummer. There are five versions included in the first disc. 'Blues for Tomorrow' incorporates swing elements, and is dominated by Coltrane's saxophone, followed by a quick drum and bass duet, an all-percussion session while the, bassist plucks away in the background, culminating in a masterful saxophone and trumpet melody. 'Off Minor' (a fourth and fifth take) continues the up-tempo feel of 'Blues for Tomorrow,' but is a much more concerted piece, and borders on big-band territory. The second disc starts out with a short reverent piece, 'Abide with Me,' then moves to the swing-heavy 'Epistrophy,' which is, in my opinion, the strongest song of the collection. Coltrane flies from tempo to tempo like there's no tomorrow, the drummer is in his own world, and the whole song just has a perfected feel to it. 'Well You Needn't' is just as lively, featuring an outstanding saxophone and drum tandem. 'Ruby My Dear' is a more mellow song, with versions featuring both Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane. The collection ends with 'Nutty' and 'Trinkle, Tinkle,' both upbeat songs with heavy bass influences.

Album of the Day: MF Doom - MM..Leftovers

Extra tracks left off of MM..Food?, plus a couple of remixes and a guest spot or two. You can tell that they were left off the album for a reason, not so much because they are bad, but because they wouldn't mesh well with the rest of the album, which ultimately ended up being a sort of concept album, at least on the surface. Besides, they aren't quite fully fleshed out. 'My Favorite Ladies (KMD Remix)' uses 'My Favorite Ladies' over a warped-out 'Humrush' beat by KMD. Still an awesome listen.

Notable songs: 'Hoe Cakes (Ant Remix)', 'My Favorite Ladies (KMD Remix)', 'Vomit'

Album of the Day: DJ Shadow - The Outsider

A departure from the usual DJ Shadow instrumentals, these are more-or-less fleshed out song with guest features, sort of like what Jake One did with White Van Music, although this came out first. The beats here aren't as good as, say, 'Endtroducing...', but perhaps that's setting the standard a little high, considering the effort it probably took to get the guest artists on board, which explains why my favorite songs are the instrumentals. It's an interesting mix of upbeat songs with guest spots and lengthy instrumentals, all interspersed with a sort of recurring western theme. The beats are put together well, but I've never been a huge fan of club songs, and the shallow lyrics don't help very much. I can't knock it too much, though, because it's always a good thing when an artist or producer changes things up a little, even if I don't personally like it. Starts off upbeat, with club tracks ('3 Freaks,' 'Turf Dancing' – not a fan) and a little soul ('This Time (I'm Gonna Try it My Way)), then mellows out toward the middle ('Seein Thangs,' 'Broken Levee Blues,' 'Backstage Girl'), where my favorite songs of the album come from.

Notable songs: 'Backstage Girl,' 'Triplicate/Something Happened That Day'

Album of the Day: Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead Symphony

I'm not going to lie, I can pretty much guarantee an overwhelmingly positive review before I even start listening. I'm kicking myself for not having heard about this before now. This album is every bit as good as the original. I've gone through it three times, and there are still so many little moments that give me chills as I listen. System of a Down has never been quite as good live as they have been in their studio recordings, but Serj Tankian really pulls it off well. Right off the bat, Feed Us is absolutely powerful. The symphony makes the song so much more grandiose than the already amazing original. It sounds like part of a major film score. It's twice as long as the original and I didn't even notice. The string section nails it, giving it a haunted feel that I didn't even know I was missing. I like how the crowd noise is controlled, only being heard at the beginning and end, with a few outbursts of applause here and there in between. 'Blue' is fantastic, but not as good as the first track. The string section is beautiful on the chorus, though, and of course, given the source material, the song is good anyway. I decided beforehand to try not to sing along, but that was broken with 'Sky is Over'. The percussion section and pianist just makes this song transcendentally good. The hair stood up on the back of my neck when they queued themselves up. It was beautiful. The backup singers are used very sparingly, so that when they are noticeable, they make a big difference. 'Lie Lie Lie' reminds me of 'The Trial' by Pink Floyd, which is a very good thing. 'Money' doesn't seem as well put together as the rest of the songs. The chorus is a cacophony of each section of the symphony trying to play over one another. The saving grace here is the backup singer, who is amazing. 'Baby' doesn't get good until the break about halfway through, when the violin section gets a chance to really shine. 'Gate 21,' which I had never heard before, is almost a duet between Tankian and the pianist, with absolutely beautiful lyrics. 'The Charade' is another piano heavy song. The string section provides a good background to play off of, especially when the cadence is switched up throughout the verses. Again, makes me think of Pink Floyd, not so much in terms of sound, but style, sort of like Alice in Wonderland, if that makes any sense outside of my own head. If anything, the only criticism here is that it wasn't on 'Elect the Dead,' because it is simply fantastic. 'Honking Antelope' is much more subdued than the guitar-laiden original, which switches the focus to the singer and background singer. 'Saving Us' starts off bass heavy, but lightens up a little once the vocals start. The guitar is subtle, but a nice addition. The big-budget film score feel returns here, especially in the bridge. 'Elect the Dead' is somehow subdued yet more uptempo than the original. It simply takes my breath away. I'm honestly running out of superlatives and hyperbole. 'Falling Stars' makes good use of spoken word over a perfectly executing string section. The violins are sweetly consistent, and overpower the singer, without taking anything away from the song as a whole. 'Beethoven's C**t' doesn't have quite the dynamic sound stage and separation of instruments as the rest of the album seems to. The percussion is more felt than heard, but to me is the defining part of the song. There's a beautiful instrumental solo a little more than halfway through, during the bridge. Everything sort of slams together during the crescendo at the end, creating a confusing jumble of sound, at least to my untrained ears. 'Empty Walls' is the only song with a true live concert feel to it. Serj Tankian implores the audience to sing along, but even before that you can hear them clapping along with the chorus. I hate using the word epic, but there isn't any other way to describe the chorus. The backup singer was a pleasant surprise here. The song, and fittingly, the album, ends in a roar of applause.

Notable songs: 'Feed Us', 'Sky Is Over', 'Elect the Dead'

Album of the Day: Freddie Gibbs - Cold Day in Hell

This falls squarely into my 'guilty pleasure' category. I'm kind of ambivalent about this one. I usually like Freddie Gibbs, but he's not exactly the most deep and thought provoking of hip hop artists. It almost feels refreshing to me, if for no other reason than I usually don't listen to the more hardcore style of rap. From a (more or less) outsider to this style, it's not bad, but I'm not exactly going to be blasting it at full volume. It reminds me of that slew of formulaic Houston rap albums that came out around 2005: a few tracks about money, a few derogatory tracks about women, one or two serious songs praising women or recently deceased friends laced with R&B singers singing the hook, a couple about drugs or why their city is the best city in the world, then several more about money and/or violence. (I wrote that sentence before I finished the album, and it went on to follow that formula pretty much toward the letter.) He's at his best when he reels off long, interrupted flows (Let 'Em Burn, 187 Proof), rather than short, machine-gun style bursts interspersed with feature spots (B.A.N.ned, Anything to Survive), and tracks tend to fall about when he slows down. As long as I'm admitting to guilty pleasures, I have to say, ashamedly, that the tracks I enjoyed most were the crass, murder-women-money type songs that were lyrically dull but catchy. It's terrible, but I enjoy that stuff on occasion. That said, there are several genuine tracks lamenting dire financial situations, and the stress and mental anguish that are necessarily involved, that resonated well with me. So Amazin' was just awful, though. I've never been into porno rap. By the way, what happened to Juicy J? His verse in 'Str8 Slammin'' was so bad it was hilarious.

Top Ten Favorite Albums

Okay, 11, but I can't really take any one of these out. No particular order.

Dark Sun Riders - Seeds of Evolution - Probably my favorite album right now. Brother J's voice is a pleasure to listen to, and the lyrics are dense while still being aurally pleasing.

Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead - Serj Tankian's debut solo album, every single track is amazingly powerful.

Peanut Butter Wolf - My Vinyl Weighs a Ton - About the most technically sound hip hop album I've ever heard. Every guest and feature spot is perfectly done, and the beats are just perfect.

Magnificent Ruffians - Elevated Soul EP - 41 tracks of pure lyrics intertwined with old school soul samples.

MF Doom - Operation Doomsday - MF Doom's debut album. Beautiful use of samples.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced? - Is there really anything that needs to be said?

Aloe Blacc - Good Things - One of the best around for modern day soul.

Percee P - Perserverance - Percee P might have one of the best flows and lyrical styles around.

Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay - most of this is decent, but the title track is one of the best jazz compositions I've ever heard.

Madlib - Shades of Blue - The be-all-end-all of mix albums. No true remixes, just tweaks that only serve to make the original Blue Note recordings that much more interesting.

Madvillain - Madvillainy - The magnum opus, in my opinion of both MF Doom and Madlib.

Album of the Day: Wu Tang & Jimi Hendrix - Black Gold

I'm really excited about this one. I figure even if it had been poorly mixed, how bad can it be, considering the source material? The album is littered with interludes featuring samples of old Hendrix interviews, it really makes the whole thing feel that much more personal. The best songs are those that feature Hendrix's guitar, rather than Wu Tang's beats, like in 'The Wind Cries Mary'. I'm amazed at how well the producer was able to mix together two wholly different sounds. About the only criticism I can give is that a lot of the songs have the same feel to them, if that makes any sense. Each is differently, and it does switch up often, but it's almost as if it's one long, flowing track. Actually, that's not really a criticism. I do wish Hendrix was featured more on this one. Wu Tang is solid as always, but at times it's not really balanced. According to Winamp, this is one of my highest rated albums. The final track is a great close to the album, it really sews the whole thing together.

Black Gold

Rambling

I wish I could put into words the feeling I get when I hear a truly good song, so I'm totally about to. It makes my heart leap, it makes the world a little bit brighter, and I think I finally get what people mean when they say "expand your mind." It quite literally takes my breath away. I think it's close to the same feeling you get when you have a really huge crush on someone: every time you see them or even think about them, your heart tries to leap out of your chest, you start grinning like an idiot, and you feel lightheaded from the combination of hope and euphoria. It's a truly powerful feeling. The thrill of finding a rare album, the anticipation you feel before you listen to a new CD, that indescribable sensation you feel when you discover a new artist or even an entire genre to explore, it's all just amazing to me.

Album of the Day - Special Blends, Vol. 1

A feature album using Metal Fingers beats. I feel like the vocals are too harsh on some of the songs, and compete with the beat rather than working with it, like in 'Pounds Up' by M.O.P. Some of the songs here just make me think of the song the beat was originally used in, which detracts from it, like 'You're Playing Yourself' by Jeru the Damaja, which uses the beat 'Mugwort,' which was used in 'Fastlane' by King Gheedorah. Others come completely out of left field, like 'On and On' by Erykah Badu and 'Brown Sugar' by D'Angelo, which bend genres just enough to create a good sound without forcing anything. The whole thing meshes together really well, and just makes me want to go back and listen to Special Herbs all over again.

Notable songs: 'On and On' - Erykah Badu, 'Ante Up' - M.O.P., Paper Thin' - MC Lyte (she absolutely nailed 'Shallots')

DOOM in Madrid

I can't remember the last time he did an interview, especially one on camera. Lecture: DOOM (Madrid 2011) from Red Bull Music Academy on Vimeo.

Album of the Day: Shaft, Isaac Hayes

Album of the Day: Shaft, Isaac Hayes

This started out as kind of a joke, but I really like this album.

1. Theme from Shaft

Just awesome. It's impossible not to airdrum along. There are like ten lines in this song, but do you really need more? 5/5

2. Bumpy's Lament

Smooth as hell. The organ is a nice touch. 3/5

3. Walk from Regio's

This one's got that whole 'spy on the move' feel to it. It worked perfectly in the movie. 3/5

4. Ellie's Love Theme

I honestly don't remember this one from the movie, but the strings work really well. You can definitely tell this is a soundtrack from a 70's movie. 3/5

5. Shaft's Cab Ride

Finally a shift back to a faster tempo. The horns are excellent. 4/5

6. Cafe Regio's

Straight elevator music. The length of the song works in its favor, allowing for more time to flesh out the cadence. It doesn't get good until about 2 minutes in or so, when the guitar kicks in. 3/5

7. Early Sunday Morning

I feel like I should be drinking a glass of wine and looking pensively out of a window as I contemplate life as I listen to this one. Ridiculously laid-back, yet my attention stays focused. 3/5

8. Be Yourself

Back to up-tempo again. I think I prefer these, so far. The trumpet has been consistently fantastic throughout the first half of this soundtrack. I feel like this would make a good sample, or at least the theme song to a campy sitcom. 4/5

9. A Friend's Place

Back to slow-tempo. It was over before I had a chance to think about it. 3/5

10. Soulsville

I hadn't even noticed that these were all instrumentals until now. Really down to earth, and once again the trumpet takes the spotlight. The 70's in a nutshell. 4/5

11. No Name Bar

There's a recurring theme going on here. I looked it up, and Richard "Johnny" Davis is the lead trumpet. Beyond that, there doesn't seem to be much about him. The organ is really good here, too. 3/5

12. Bumpy's Blues

The drums take the lead for me, this time, but of course the trumpet takes over about halfway through with a ridiculous solo. 4/5

13. Shaft Strikes Again

The trumpet is just all over this one, but the strings are an excellent backup. 3/5

14. Do Your Thing

Nearly 20 minutes long. The guitar dominates here (there's a guitar-drum-trumpet session that lasts about ten minutes that gave me chills), as does Isaac Hayes, who gives the song a nice funk-blues feel to it. 4/5

15. The End Theme

Same as the beginning theme, which just makes it awesome. 4/5

Kimya Dawson - Walk Like Thunder

Kinda sad, but really good.

Album of the Day: Jaylib, Champion Sound

Holy crap, I forgot how good this album was. Madlib and J Dilla went back and forth, each making beats for the other, and their styles really go well together, like strawberries and more strawberries. Percee P in 'The Exclusive' has one of the best flows I think I've ever heard outside of Perserverance. Talib Kweli is awesome as always in 'Raw Shit'. Madlib's trademark passion for vinyl comes out in full force in 'Raw Addict,' which uses probably my favorite J Dilla beat, short of 'Workinonit' from Donuts and 'Safety Dance' from Donut Shop. 'Strip Club' was a little weird, but you kind of expect that with Quasimoto. There's something about the way Madlib raps that confounds me. I would swear he uses the exact same cadence in every song, yet he conforms it to each individual beat so perfectly that there has to be something extra that I'm missing. This whole album is one DOOM feature away from being truly great. I dare you to listen to the title track without bobbing your head. I can't wait to pick up the remixes.

Jaylib

Shit's Awesome

Introduced me to a whole genre.

Collection of "Songs" for the 24-Hour Period: Lady Sovereign - Vertically Challenged

I heard a track (The Battle) from EP on Pandora and decided to buy the rest of the EP. I've decided to go song by song and give as unbiased an opinion (if that's even possible) as I can. I had such high expectations for this EP, because I heard "The Battle," and thought it was pretty decent. I made a running commentary as I listened.

1. Random - Setting aside the meaningless lyrics (how does one "get random"?) I feel like this song was supposed to be really bass heavy, but they qeued the bass too low, which detracts the whole thing. I enjoy an annoying-but-catchy song as much as the next guy, but I barely got through this song.

2. Ch Ching (Cheque 1-2 Remix) - Not as bad as the first track. I think this entire experiment might be void, because I've realized that I just can't stand her voice. I don't have a problem with British hip-hop in general, but there's just something about this EP that makes me want to find other short people and punch them in the face. The lyrics are bordering on Black Eyed Peas territory. How am I only on track 2?

3. Fiddle with the Volume - She almost gets into a rhythm with the longer verses at the beginning of this one, but I keep getting thrown off by some of the expressions she uses. I would go back and find a couple of examples, but my brain won't let me. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to cultural differences. The beat isn't too bad on this one, minus the fuzzy bass line, but that is a personal preference.

4. Random (Menta Remix) - Apparently someone decided this song was so good it deserved a remix. "I drop lyrics like a ho drops her knickers" was a funny line though. I did finally get an explanation of how to "get random:" "Random means anything." Perhaps here she is using a more philosophic theme, implying that what we are is wholly subjective, and that the norms that we place on ourselves and others are little more than arbitrary rules and limits. Perhaps Lady Sovereign is telling us to break down the imaginary borders that society places on us in favor of a more free and non culturally-dependent lifestyle, and escape from the bougoise cultural constrictions that surround each of us. Or perhaps it's just a shitty song.

5. A Little Bit of Shhh - Ok, the beat here is pretty decent. My brain won't let me focus too hard on the lyrics, so no comment there. I guess this song is decent by default?

6. The Battle - This song is the reason I got this EP. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, I suppose. I think the reason I like this song so much more than the others here is that there are so many feature spots. I also really like the beat on this song. THe string meshes really well with the industrial feel to the bass. It reminds me of walking down the street at night, taking in all the sounds of the city. Even Lady Sovereign's first verse is pretty decent, as far as flow and rhythm are concerned. "Devil promotion of sickness/I'll spit this/Anyone listening is a witness" threw me off a little, because it's so out of sync with the rest of the lyrics, which mostly focus around why she isn't affected by insults, and whores, I think. I kind of wish they had fleshed out the whole futuristic battle thing they had going at the start, though. It's amazing how much more I'm willing to listen to so-so lyrics when the presentation is done well. This dude ROZ near the end killed it, though. The rapid-fire bars that everybody pulled out at the end were actually quite good. It just makes the rest of the EP seem that much worse.

7. A Little Bit of Shhh (Smallstars Remix) - Apparently I'm a little dim. I've just realized that there are only 5 songs, and the rest are remixes. This is quite a bit worse than the original. That is all.

8. Fiddle with the Volume (Ghislain Poirier Remix) - What the hell is a banger langer? My head hurts. I can't wait to cleanse my brain with some Coltrane. This whole EP makes me angry.