One of my favorite albums of 2007 was an unlikely comeback by Camp Lo, Black Hollywood, which was by no means a masterpiece, but was pretty impressive for a group whose one blip of commercial relevance was a solid decade beforehand. So their new album, Stone And Rob Caught On Tape is kind of up the same wall that I recently described in regards to the new UGK album: after a dope comeback album, it doesn't feel like as big a deal to have another one soon after, even if it's just as good, if not better. And I had no real reason to expect this one to be better than Black Hollywood; the group's longtime producer, Ski, is only on one track, the title sounds like the name of some lame MTV2 show about the mundane exploits of skateboarders and their bodyguards, and there was that whole discouraging attempt to rebrand themselves as "The Lo" last year which didn't last long since it was an utterly terrible idea.

But Stone And Rob actually is pretty damn good. I can't tell if their surreal slanguistics have been toned down or if it's just less outlandish-sounding now than it was on Uptown Saturday Night, but they're still masters of bizarre little turns of phrase. And there's something refreshing, in the age of the overly emphatic punchline rapper, about the way Camp Lo still just barrel through all these strange word choices and vivid imagery without ever slowing down to make sure you catch it, or giggle with self-satisfaction about how weird they are, Lil Wayne-style. The way the album opens, with a hook that awkwardly mashes together "Two Boys In A Cadillac" and "Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag Getting Crushed By Buildings," feels like a bad omen, but once you get past that, they're back in their own world. The main producers, Smoking Apples and Apple Juice Kid (what's with all the apples?) have nice jazzy off-kilter beats that fit right in with the old Camp Lo sound with a new twist, without trying to come off 'current,' and the dub exploration of "89 Of Crime" is just a headfuck. I have no idea if I'm gonna get to catch their show here next week, but I'm hoping I can.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 09, 2009 at 8:56 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.