October 2009

  • Chief - "True Love" (feat. Blu & Sene)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/30/09 12:05pm
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    Blu continues his complete domination in West Coast Hip Hop the rap game. At this point, there’s no use in attempting to be anything less than effusive while discussing the emcee and producer. He’s even recently announced that he and Exile are prepping a follow up to the stunning masterpiece, yes masterpiece that was Below the Heavens.

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  • Breaks: Anthony Joseph and the Spasm Band

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/25/09 12:28pm
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    Well, this just looks like a Marvin Gaye disc. And of course, that won’t raise any complaints around these parts. But on an album that so clearly attempts to move past generic restrictions, its cover image – all colorful and positive – seems to harken back to a time with more stringent divides not just musically, but socially as well.

    The ‘70s, which the album art here so properly evokes, was a continuation of what was supposed to have occurred during the ‘60s revolution. That decade didn’t wind up revealing too much else, but there was a carrying over of touting education and the like. So that’s where Anthony Joseph and the Spasm Band come in.

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  • Twofer: Album Review:: 7L & Esoteric and 85 Decibel Monks

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/24/09 4:23pm
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    7L & Esoteric
    A New Dope
    (Babygrande Records, 2006)
    www.babygrande.com


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  • Big L: Choke from the Gun Smoke

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/23/09 3:16pm
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    It’s funny to read and attempt to understand why other writers have figured Big L’s first disc didn’t do as well as it should have in the market place.

    Being released in 1995 Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous was in stores during a time when west coast stuffs had taken over the market place. Wu-Tang had already released its avowed classic and was in the process of working out a series of solo endeavors. Jay-Z hadn’t arrived as of yet and Nas, much like the Wu, was in the middle of something other than career highlights.

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  • Breaks: Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/20/09 10:04am
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    Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen
    Inspiration Information, Vol. 4
    (Strut Recoreds, 2009)
    http://www.strut-records.com/

    Strut Records had a good idea: pairing two unrelated musicians and seeing what happens. In the past, the label has set up Horace Andy with Ashley Beedle, so why not Jimmi Tenor (who you may or may not know from his ’94 track “Take Me Baby") and Tony Allen (who you should know as Fela Kuti’s drummer). The pairing is an odd one, certainly. But given the fact that Allen’s musical proclivities take center stage, it’s a safe bet that success is on the horizon as well as some funky African stuffs.

    Well, success on the instrumental sections of the disc, at least.


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  • Hieroglyphics - "Battle Drum" (Video)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/18/09 10:13am
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    There's never enough from Hiero. This is a bit futuristic, but ok nonetheless.

  • Talib Kweli - Subsoniq Interview

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/18/09 10:11am
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    More Black Star or no...come on.

  • Twofer: the Ghostface Killah and Jay-Z

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/14/09 1:26pm
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    So, this is an unlikely pairing. But each of these albums has been staring me in the face for the last little bit. Here goes…

    Ghostface Killah
    Ghostdini Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
    (Def Jam, 2009)

    At some point Ghostface figured that he was all grown up and needed to inject his work with a healthful dose of soul music. It’s not a bad idea – nor a new one. And even when contrasted with some early Wu Tang efforts, there are tracks here on Ghostdini Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City that could be confused for some work from the RZA, but not too many.

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  • Twofer: Up, Bustle and Out and V/A Movements

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/9/09 6:48pm
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    Up, Bustle & Out
    City Breakers-18 Frames Per Second
    (Groove Attack, 2006)
    www.grooveattack.com

    “Rainbow Town,” “Sheppard and his Flock,” “5000cc Revolutionary (Dub),” “City Breakers (Dub)” and “Paramos Ghost (A Dusty Town of Whispers)”. That twenty minutes of music outta seventy might not look like bunches, but in-fact is. Those titles are densely produced and edited to modern day dub standards and perhaps even those of twenty five years ago. The eighties and dance music heavily influenced the development of latter day Jamaican music and subsequently this Up, Bustle & Out release. Now each individual is apt to make his or her own decision as to whether 70’s titles or the 80’s style are more to one’s taste. Up, Bustle & Out have decided they like both. City Breakers is with out question a dance album, so each track will slither its way into your soul and move you around from the insides.  There is some plain sly dub on this slab, as well as some ska on “Sheppard,” though.  But apart from the tracks previously mentioned, there’s not a great deal of listenability here.  Take it to a club and see what happens otherwise, give King Tubby or Keith Hudson some money instead.

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  • Breaks: Twofer:: 3 Pieces and Backwater

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/9/09 6:33pm
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    3 Pieces
    Vibes of Truth (Fantasy Records, 1975)

    During the ‘70s popularization of soul jazz styles replete with vocals and the like, Fantasy Records was one of the leading proponents of the style. And counting Donald Byrd as producer for a few of its acts didn’t hurt, but it also didn’t guarantee any successes. That being said, 3 Pieces’ Vibes of Truth might have done what it set out to: include a funky back beat with some jazzy instrumentation, some orchestration and a touch of soulful vocals.

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  • Del the Funky Homosapien Moves to the 'Burbs

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/9/09 10:02am
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    We're nearing a twenty year anniversary for Del the Funky Homosapien. That doesn't mean his work is antiquated. Quite the contrary. Instead the emcee works to re-frame the funk that he works with so frequently. Some critics might feel that such a singular approach is nothing but old hat at this point. And they might be right, however, the fact that Del remains a name that catches rap-fanatics attention explicates the rappers continued relevance. Sure, he's not going to release another I Wish My Brother George was Here, but no one else is either.


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  • Breaks: Bootsy Collins

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/7/09 3:19pm
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    The connective tissue that binds funk, soul, RnB and hip hop together is part of the reason the genres are so interesting to discuss. There’s an endless line from one place to another that makes a great many classic records related in some way. So while Mr. James Brown and George Clinton are two of the integral performers that early deejays heavily relied upon, there’re a few musicians that are on albums by both performers. It’s too difficult to figure who’s the most influential out of the sidemen. Bootsy Collins, though, who played bass for both Brown and Clinton, easily has the highest profile.

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  • Kon & Amir and DJ Muro - (BBE & Rapster Records, 2006)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/5/09 8:38am
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    Funk compilations are being released by the dozen as of late and to much adulation. Frankly, I’m alright with that. The appeal of compilations like this can span a number of different kinds of people: folks that like hip-hop, groove oriented musics, old folks who are just down and any variety of new fangled head. Each and all will be impressed by the digging skills represented on not only The Kings of Diggin' but most new comps like this particular one. However, this very album is a double disc and represents the passion of three separate individuals.  Kon & Amir are given disc one, the shorter of the two.  And on their side of things, the selecting is probably a bit more consistent, but limited in a few ways. A funky big band grinds out grooves for a duet on Tyrone & Carr’s “Take Me with You”, while there’s some piano and clav jazz funk on a track from Henri Pierre Noel.

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  • Prefuse 73 - Security Screenings (Warp, 2006)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/5/09 8:29am
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    If Prefuse 73 (nee Scott Herren) makes bad music, I haven’t heard any of it so far. This deep into ones career, there should be at least an uneven album.  And while Savath & Savalas wasn’t necessarily intended to reach his core audience (heads, stoners and myself), it is unquestionably well crafted if a bit fey. Security Screenings is unadulterated hip-hop with hours of production values readily apparent to any and every listener. Each track has its own personality in spades. Some come off as more ambient than others and a few are easily understood as this man’s skewered vision of hip-hop. Probably an easy guess, but Prefuse 73 likes Krautrock – and not just Kraftwerk, but the rock infused weirdness as well as the droning ons of Harmonia and the like. And an even more simplistic guess; Fourtet likes it as well (although he makes it abundantly clear).

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  • Themselves: Down in Oakland

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/4/09 3:18pm
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    Dose One and Jel have been concocting creative sounds for over a decade at this late date. The six year hiatus that Themselves went on has found the group rewarding fans with enough music over the last few months to sate the most voracious of Anticon fans. Working in Subtle (waaaay overrated) and cLOUDDEAD in addition to doing solo stuff, both emcee and producer has remained more than busy. The pair has worked at a hurried pace of late with Jel releasing a few solo discs and a soundtrack as the duo released the freeHoudini mix tape earlier this year and now a full length.

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  • Break(estra)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 10/2/09 2:47pm
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    The confluence of talent that was going on just after the LA riots back in the early ‘90s in and around the city proper is the stuff that’s perhaps impacted what all this ‘backpacker’ nonsense is about. It’s a horrible name for a skewed sub-genre, but that’s how it goes. It’s a place holder, not a realistic pigeon hole for the music. Anyway, the ‘90s saw the rise of the Good Life and a host of other open mic nights in the city. What resulted was Freestyle Fellowship, Dialated Peoples, J5, the Stones Throw crew, Project Blowed and by extension Busdriver and his cohort. In about twenty years, that’s a huge portion of the enlightened hip hop thing to peg on such a specific time and place.

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