Monthly Report: January Albums
1. Freeway - Month Of Madness: The Mixtape
Freeway is part of a whole wave of rappers who got a brief moment of major label shine at least 5 years ago, had a hit or two and maybe went gold, and then got caught in label limbo or otherwise let their careers go way offtrack, and are now clawing their way back by catering to the internet. But Freeway never seemed as whiny or entitled about his situation as, say, Joe Budden or the Clipse do now, and it's refreshing that he actually went away for a couple years by his own choice, going on a religious pilgrimage and seriously pondering whether to continue rapping. His 2007 album Free At Last was great and unjustly underpromoted, but when he returned in December dropping a new song for free every day of the month, he was just making good music again, not muttering about how Def Jam screwed him or Jay let him down. But what's great is that those songs, as compiled I think unofficially on this mixtape, are actually songs and not half-assed freestyles like most online rapper publicity stunts, with original beats by notable producers like Alchemist and Don Cannon and Erick Sermon and Needlz and Jake One, and Free is still rapping his ass off in that bizarre one-of-a-kind voice we've come to know and love.
2. Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream
The more I hear Springsteen's Brendan O'Brien-produced 21st century rock albums, the more I want some other producer to peel back the layers and let me hear the E Street Band be itself. Working On A Dream shows those layers a little more than Magic, and it's nice to hear the late Danny Federici's organ work a little more prominently on his final recordings. But I still hear O'Brien's '90s alt-rock sheen, which I always thought worked great for Pearl Jam and some of their contemporaries, and just year for something that captures the basic sonic character of E Street as they still sound onstage when playing old sons. It's still Springsteen, though, so it's still pretty good, and it's fun to hear him indulge in some of his iffiest ideas in a long time, like the 8-minute opener "Outlaw Pete" and the goofily charming "Queen Of The Supermarket."
3. Superchunk - Clambakes Vol. 4: Sur La Bouche - Live in Montreal 1993
I've been on a big Superchunk trip lately, so much so that I got excited just to see that they were announced on the Coachella bill the other day and might just maybe actually tour this year. But I feel like I'm a little younger than a lot of the other folks who love them, who I guess are old enough to have already been true indie heads in the early '90s. So maybe it's just a generation gap thing that I'm in the minority that thinks they only got really good with Here's Where The Strings Come In and that later albums like Come Pick Me Up slay most of the early stuff. But there are still lotsa good songs from those early records, so when they release a new-old live record from the Clambakes series from that era, I'll still snap it up and enjoy it. Really this bootleg captures the energy of the band at that time so much better than, say, No Pocky For Kitty in my opinion.
4. The Bird And The Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future
I always feel kinda bad for the offspring of famous musicians who become musicians themselves. Regardless of how they feel about their parent's music or legacy, it's gotta be awkward when people take an interest in them solely for that reason. So I kind of lame being one of those types of people when I only took an interest in The Bird And The Bee after I realized that singer Inara George is the daughter of the late Little Feat frontman Lowell George. But I enjoyed Inara's performance of her father's song on the Feat album Join The Band last year, and then saw that her band was about to release an album, so I wanted to check it out. Weird funky indie pop with one of the guys from Geggy Tah isn't necessarily right up my alley, but I am enjoying the kind of playful, singsongy vibe of this record, and it's really textured and well produced.
5. Young Dro & Yung LA - Black Boy Swag, White Boy Tags
T.I. has the best superstar vanity label in rap right now, but I can't help thinking that they're inevitably going to drop the ball, maybe as badly as Roc-A-Fella around that time they were snapping up guys like M.O.P. and doing absolutely nothing with them. Right now Grand Hustle's roster includes 8Ball & MJG, Killer Mike, Alfamega, B.o.B. and Young Dro, all of whom I'd probably buy an album from tomorrow if they dropped (B.o.B. I'm increasingly less sure about, though, especially after that terrible Andre 3k wannabe single). But I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the only CDs they release in 2009 were from mohawked twerp Yung LA and maybe another lame DJ Drama compilation. Pairing the former up with Dro, always an entertaining punchline artist, for this mixtape makes Yung LA just a little more palatable at first, at least until you realize that the kid has the most annoying flow ever invented. But you could still chop this up and get a decent half-album of newish Dro verses, which might be all we get this year anyway.
Freeway is part of a whole wave of rappers who got a brief moment of major label shine at least 5 years ago, had a hit or two and maybe went gold, and then got caught in label limbo or otherwise let their careers go way offtrack, and are now clawing their way back by catering to the internet. But Freeway never seemed as whiny or entitled about his situation as, say, Joe Budden or the Clipse do now, and it's refreshing that he actually went away for a couple years by his own choice, going on a religious pilgrimage and seriously pondering whether to continue rapping. His 2007 album Free At Last was great and unjustly underpromoted, but when he returned in December dropping a new song for free every day of the month, he was just making good music again, not muttering about how Def Jam screwed him or Jay let him down. But what's great is that those songs, as compiled I think unofficially on this mixtape, are actually songs and not half-assed freestyles like most online rapper publicity stunts, with original beats by notable producers like Alchemist and Don Cannon and Erick Sermon and Needlz and Jake One, and Free is still rapping his ass off in that bizarre one-of-a-kind voice we've come to know and love.
2. Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream
The more I hear Springsteen's Brendan O'Brien-produced 21st century rock albums, the more I want some other producer to peel back the layers and let me hear the E Street Band be itself. Working On A Dream shows those layers a little more than Magic, and it's nice to hear the late Danny Federici's organ work a little more prominently on his final recordings. But I still hear O'Brien's '90s alt-rock sheen, which I always thought worked great for Pearl Jam and some of their contemporaries, and just year for something that captures the basic sonic character of E Street as they still sound onstage when playing old sons. It's still Springsteen, though, so it's still pretty good, and it's fun to hear him indulge in some of his iffiest ideas in a long time, like the 8-minute opener "Outlaw Pete" and the goofily charming "Queen Of The Supermarket."
3. Superchunk - Clambakes Vol. 4: Sur La Bouche - Live in Montreal 1993
I've been on a big Superchunk trip lately, so much so that I got excited just to see that they were announced on the Coachella bill the other day and might just maybe actually tour this year. But I feel like I'm a little younger than a lot of the other folks who love them, who I guess are old enough to have already been true indie heads in the early '90s. So maybe it's just a generation gap thing that I'm in the minority that thinks they only got really good with Here's Where The Strings Come In and that later albums like Come Pick Me Up slay most of the early stuff. But there are still lotsa good songs from those early records, so when they release a new-old live record from the Clambakes series from that era, I'll still snap it up and enjoy it. Really this bootleg captures the energy of the band at that time so much better than, say, No Pocky For Kitty in my opinion.
4. The Bird And The Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future
I always feel kinda bad for the offspring of famous musicians who become musicians themselves. Regardless of how they feel about their parent's music or legacy, it's gotta be awkward when people take an interest in them solely for that reason. So I kind of lame being one of those types of people when I only took an interest in The Bird And The Bee after I realized that singer Inara George is the daughter of the late Little Feat frontman Lowell George. But I enjoyed Inara's performance of her father's song on the Feat album Join The Band last year, and then saw that her band was about to release an album, so I wanted to check it out. Weird funky indie pop with one of the guys from Geggy Tah isn't necessarily right up my alley, but I am enjoying the kind of playful, singsongy vibe of this record, and it's really textured and well produced.
5. Young Dro & Yung LA - Black Boy Swag, White Boy Tags
T.I. has the best superstar vanity label in rap right now, but I can't help thinking that they're inevitably going to drop the ball, maybe as badly as Roc-A-Fella around that time they were snapping up guys like M.O.P. and doing absolutely nothing with them. Right now Grand Hustle's roster includes 8Ball & MJG, Killer Mike, Alfamega, B.o.B. and Young Dro, all of whom I'd probably buy an album from tomorrow if they dropped (B.o.B. I'm increasingly less sure about, though, especially after that terrible Andre 3k wannabe single). But I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the only CDs they release in 2009 were from mohawked twerp Yung LA and maybe another lame DJ Drama compilation. Pairing the former up with Dro, always an entertaining punchline artist, for this mixtape makes Yung LA just a little more palatable at first, at least until you realize that the kid has the most annoying flow ever invented. But you could still chop this up and get a decent half-album of newish Dro verses, which might be all we get this year anyway.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 11:59 PM.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
Post a Comment