The Crystal Pharoah Blaxploration
A continuously mixed, 36-track trolling through the oceans of Blaxploitation ephemera, Blaxploration finds NYC producer/DJ […]
A continuously mixed, 36-track trolling through the oceans of Blaxploitation ephemera, Blaxploration finds NYC producer/DJ The Crystal Pharoah in full-on crate-digging-geek reverie. Though often poorly parodied and mimicked, the art and culture of these movies and their symbiotically linked soundtracks contains some of the most regal and dramatic moments in latter-20th-century pop culture. The Pharoah successfully captures and manipulates some of these jewels on tracks like the epic throwdown “Blacula vs. The Crystal Pharoah.” However, his goal of producing a work with “no outboard gear, no mastering, straight up raw” doesn’t always serve the music fully, as some of the songs lose some of their majestic power to audio mud.