This album dwells more on the music of Will “Quantic” Holland and Russ “Rusty” Porter’s childhood and their friendship than it does on past studio relationships with live funk bands or hop-heavy bass outings. Tales From Beyond… is a guitar-driven album whose humor must be applauded in a culture where downcast sentiments and serious demeanors rule the roost. “If It Ain’t Broke…Break It” is indeed smashed to smithereens courtesy of lurking bass and shimmying guitars, while “Get It Back” puts a brave face on a gloomy situation as low-slung guitar action takes the lead. Listen with an open mind!
Various Artists Off The Wall: 10 Years Of Wall Of Sound
Diverse British hip-hop/breaks/dance label Wall of Sound’s sensibility has always bordered on giddily schizophrenic, and Off the Wall has eccentricity in spades. By culling tracks from a list of artists nurtured over the label’s 10-year history, mother hen and tastemaker Mark Jones fashions these two discs into one big happy dance party, where longtime WOS contributors like cinematic trip-hoppers Propellerheads and Norwegian chart toppers Ràyksopp frog march over the likes of electro-pop punster Les Rythmes Digitales and loveable Citro‘n shillers the Bees. The second CD, mixed by Alex Gifford, is a gem, featuring rare banging remixes from Ashley Beedle, X-Press 2, and Jon Carter. Chock full of bombastic label hits, arranged to make the most of the imprint’s unconventional cast members, Off the Wall is a must-have look back.
Various Artists Ikebana: Merzbow’s Amlux: Rebuilt, Reused And Recycled
Frustration with re-writes, endless studio discussions about plot inscrutability, scathing art-versus-box office memos and glaringly unfavorable test screenings for his now-classic Red Badge of Courage allegedly caused director John Huston to throw up his hands and storm, “The people who will like this movie will like it because they recognize that it’s a great film. Nothing we do will please the people who aren’t disposed to it.” Substitute Japanese extreme-noise godfather Merzbow for Huston, and you have the ideology behind this collection of stellar remixes by DJ Spooky, Staalplaat Sound System, Negativland, Luke Vibert and others. The remixers come together for one grand battle where aural art wins out over monetary concerns. Merzbow, undisputed master of grinding, shifting noise-scapes, and his Ikebana musical partners-some new, some frequent collaborators-display an intrinsic awareness of the melody beneath the noise, the order behind the chaos, and the foundation beneath the abstract.
Phi-Life Cypher Higher Forces
PLC first hit UK store shelves in late 2000, and they have rarely strayed more than 20 feet from my CD player since. Higher Forces employs the same elements that hooked me the first time-the insistent ebb and flow of Life’s freestyling carries you along on its rolling tide of social awareness, a feeling rarely experienced except while reading a basement-published leftist weekly. Saying Life is a good rapper is like saying Winston Churchill had a way with words. And DJ Nappa lays an orchestra’s worth of instrumental beats down-’50s crooners, ’70s booty soul divas and Arabic chanteuses all find themselves inextricably enmeshed in Phi-Life Cypher’s utterly rhythmic world.
Buruman KEP Track EP
This second release from the Flyin’ High label (fronted by the MFP Collective) is mmm-mmm good! The original version sports warm keys, basslines that go from syncopated to spacey, and an overall jazzy vibe. Aardvark remixes the track into a minimalist, atmospheric broken-beat groover with a deep rolling bassline-this one is for the heads.
Mokadi Chica Da I¡i
This 12″ keeps Germany’s Perfect Toy on the right track, with playful instrumentation and enchanting vocals from Dita von Aster. With production from Ralph Kiefer (ex-Hipnosis) and Marc Frank (from Les Gammas), “Chica da I¡i” is a splendid delight. The flip, the trio’s cover of Trane’s “My Favorite Things,” is a good take on the classic. But I’m still smitten by the a-side, and it just might put a big stupid smile on your face.
Tommy McCook Blazing Horns/Tenor In Roots
If you thought Lenky Marsden invented minor-key melodies in reggae with his omnipresent Diwali riddim (the foundation for Wayne Wonder’s “No Letting Go” and Sean Paul’s “Get Busy”), check the Skatalites, who did it first with “Java” and “Eastern Standard Time.” Which is to say, the recent trend toward dancehall exotica is actually a tradition. Add original Skatalite McCook’s brand-new-second-hand album on Blood + Fire (classic roots, natch) to the mix, and the evolution of reggae riddim over tings and time becomes evident. In other words, there’s no future without a past, seen?
Klaus Big Man
Breakbeat veteran and half of 2Sinners, Klaus Hill goes solo for the Botchit squad, bringing a title track that smacks right out of its sci-fi intro to offer midtempo funk beats peppered with sharp rhythm guitar stabs and touches of rave synth. The flipside’s “Stoned Feet,” also midtempo, stays with the cyber stuff, but retains a sense of simplicity.
DJ Love Contact: The Remixes
Most of us have never heard the 1998 original of this Brit producer’s midtempo scratch/sample-heavy breakbeat jam, but it’s damn tight, well-structured and included on this double-pack. You also get a decent uptempo remix by Love himself, alongside a standard nu-breaks rub by Scissorkicks. But stand back for the one like Stabilizer, who throws down some ROUGH dancehall riddim patterns. That mix is worth the price of admission alone.
Roosevelt Franklin Something’s Gotta Give
NYC’s newly formed Roosevelt Franklin are no strangers to the underground rap game-MC Kimani hails from the Masterminds, while DJ Mr. Len cut his teeth with the seminal Company Flow. Kimani rails on “internet emcees” and fake underground rappers, perhaps alienating his own fanbase but providing laughs nonetheless. He pokes fun at rappers using nonsense big words in “Dropping Mad Science Yo” and channels big money mofos in “I’m So Rich,” but the standout tracks are messed-up love songs like “The Line.” The sing-a-long chorus of “S N M” sums up Roosevelt Franklin’s/conundrum: “Smart nigger music/that’s how they label it/like we should be ashamed for saying it/cuz the radio stations they ain’t playin it but I don’t care man, I’m a stay makin’ it.” Frustration with the music industry fuels this creatively ambitious but ultimately underwhelming LP.
