Metal Lungies

I should have known the evening was doomed when I saw that Olay was a sponsor. Really, any sponsored show that isn’t a festival is usually pretty questionable. As soon as we walked in it was clear that only a small group of people were going to show up. The people that are still living as if it were 2008, constantly talking about how cool MGMT is (nope) and “have you heard of this band called Passion Pit?” (stop it). Even the band members themselves seemed tired, dated. This all came as a surprise to me, the last time I saw CSS was actually the first time I ever went on an adventure in the name of Metallungies and I honestly had a blast. How much can a band change in two years? Or have my tastes really changed that much? Reflectively, I think it’s one of those situations where you grow centimeter by centimeter over the course of a year and by the time summer rolls around your tall tee has become a crop top. Music has changed pretty drastically over the last four or five years speaking from a stylistic production level. CSS’ sound just isn’t “in” anymore. They sound more like a show you stumble upon in a local neighborhood rather than a band that has been producing albums for years. They haven’t evolved. I expected more from the show in general; a slightly less lethargic crowd, a slightly more energetic band… if you’re playing the guitar, I want to feel that you know how to play it well. It was a strange and disappointing evening, salvaged only by the bartender trusting me with real glass when I ordered a drink, a testament to how thin the crowd was and therefore how lacking the fan base is.

I picked this little gem up yesterday at Unique Thrift.

We all remember the classic film; but what about the album it inspired? This late 90’s comp included the likes of Will Smith, Jermaine Dupri, Snoop Dogg, Ginuwine, a young Alicia Keys, The Roots, D’Angelo, Trey Lorenz (his name will be the answer to a jeopardy question one day), Nas, Emoja, ATCQ, an early Destiny’s Child, 3T, De La Soul, Buckshot LeFonque, and the legendary Danny Elfman.

Read the track by track review, after the jump.

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How did Curren$y do it? He exited relationships with no less than three rap titans and came out of each one stronger. He has a dollar sign in his name, but he’s not a hapless DatPiff denizen or an ironic douchebag. The Stoned Immaculate is his major label debut and it comes after years of free releases and indie maneuvering. It is also his best work to date.

Logically, this album should be a watered down imitation of his earlier work with present day hit-makers shoehorned in wherever possible. Curren$y’s deal with Warner Bros. must have been brokered over some powerful herbals because his first release with the label was a free EP with Alchemist — a blog rap dream collaboration, not a 106 and Park showpiece. The Stoned Immaculate is similarly un-raped. There are famous names — Pharrell, Estelle, Wiz Khalifa, Wale — but they all fall into place within Curren$y’s grand aesthetic.

When Curren$y spliffs up, there are harps, glowing synths, elaborate drum patterns, hallowed strings, flutes, and 2 Chainz. Curren$y could teach Rick Ross a thing or two about luxury rap. Spitta takes care to do each beat justice, but he never sounds like he’s trying. He continues to find new ways to say the same thing, while occasionally dispensing wisdom. The climax is “Chasin’ Papers” with Pharrell, which can only be described as level 5000 Jet Life.

This is what should happen when an indie champion makes it to the big time. The Stoned Immaculate sounds like the album Curre$y was trying to make with each mixtape. And it proves that patience is a virtue.

Listen to the whole thing at Complex.

As with Strong Arm Steady’s last album, production is the main draw on Arms & Hammers. The group is always mentioned in the same breath as a monster producer. They had Pete Rock’s beat for “The Joy” before Kanye and DJ Khalil’s beat for “Talkin’ 2 Myself” before Eminem. But instead of the blessing of straight Madlib beats they got on In Search of Stoney Jackson, SAS got a varied but impressive range of heavyweight West Coast producers. Underground/indie/blog favorites like DJ Khalil, Jelly Roll, and Terrace Martin handle the bulk of production, but none of them reproduce the gritty underground magic of SAS’s work with Madlib. Gangbanging and calibrated DJ Khalil beats don’t suit Mitchy Slick, Krondon, and Phil The Agony as well as blistering, oddball battle raps and dusty, warped soul. Obviously, Madlib’s “Chiba Chiba Pt.2” is a highlight as would have been Jelly Roll’s “Hand Guns” had it not been cut. Game makes a memorable appearance on “Trunk Music” as if to show the guys how to successfully parrot West Coast cultural markers. Moral of the story? Madlib is a tough act to follow.

Arms & Hammers comes out February 22.

Hip-hop artists have a knack for creating brands around groups and labels. Examples include Wu-Tang, Bad Boy, Roc-A-Fella, G-Unit, and Young Money. These brands are usually built around a philosophy or lifestyle and its accompanying visual style and slang lexicon. On their new album The ONE…COHESIVE, Alabama duo G-Side illuminate the principles of their Slow Motion Soundz imprint.

According to their about page, Slow Motion Soundz is “an entertainment research and development company based out of Huntsville, Alabama.” Founders Codie G and Cory Parham avoid the word “label;” they prefer “incubator.” Slow Motion is at the forefront of Hunstville’s burgeoning hip-hop scene and ST 2 Lettaz and Yung Clova comprise SMS’ marquee group G-Side. The dominant tenet of the SMS philosophy is unity. The buzzwords repeated throughout The ONE…COHESIVE are “one” and “cohesive.” It was released on 1.1.11 at 1 AM.

Despite the spiritual wisdom, familiar underdog rap themes permeate Cohesive. Clova and 2 Lettaz fathom the countless places music will take them on “How Far” and they reject mainstream success in pursuit of riches on “No Radio.” “Came Up” chronicles the trials of the struggling artist (it also has a subtle Antoine Dodson reference: “Like the Lincoln Park rapist, I’m coming through your window.”)

Tracks are reinforced by glossy elephantine beats. G-Side’s inspirational overtures sound even more inspirational when set to shimmering production provided by Block Beattaz and A-Team. Even “Pictures,” a sex anthem, sounds like a brilliant proclamation. For the most part, the musicality on Cohesive is genuine, not self-indulgent; the violin on “Came Up” and the piano on “Y U Mad” are part of an aesthetic of elegance that’s supposed to parallel SMS’ refined approach to music.

Even though Cohesive is G-Side’s fourth album, it has the tenacity of a debut. Cohesive is 2011’s first great release, but some day, it might be the point of entry to some future legacy of the Huntsville/Slow Motion Soundz brand.

Stream The ONE…COHESIVE below.

When I talked to Capone-N-Noreaga last February, Capone tried to justify their Ron Browz-produced crossover single:

Music today — they censor music so much that you have to make the thuggest record commercial to some extent. To get your albums in certain stores, your shit gotta be squeaky clean, because that’s just where music is at right now.

“Rotate” had a lot of people looking at CNN askew, but The War Report 2 is completely free of such unfortunate compromises. Intended as a sequel to their debut, The War Report 2 looks to duplicate the success of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II, the only commercially successful throwback rap album in recent memory. Raekwon, who appears on three songs, actually acts as executive producer on WR2, lending CNN his excellent ear for street ballads.

The album is refreshing because CNN stick to what sets them apart: their glorious lack of subtlety. No facades. In a welcome nod to early New York gangsta rap, Capone and Nore romanticize life on the streets without any excess theatrics. Besides the intro, which ascribes audio from a war documentary to life on the streets, the only real exception is “The Oath,” whose mafioso concept makes it sound like Rae passed them Cuban Linx leftover, but not in a bad way. The street single “Thug Planet” turns a “Planet Rock” sample into the soundtrack of an urban nightmare. Capone-N-Nore’s dynamic works better than ever as Capone is a surprisingly proficient technical rapper and Nore manages to be a street rapper and a parody of a street rapper at the same time (“Big loads of a fishscale / Guns from Israel / Dude named Ishmael / Told me that his shit sell.”).

The closest they come to a radio track on their new album is the Faith Evans-assisted single “Hood Pride,” which despite the sung hook and anthemic beat, doesn’t make any overly gimmicky stabs at radio play. Chalk it up to Raekwon’s influence or a legitimate desire to keep it all the way gutter this time; either way, The War Report 2 is this year’s raw, uncut New York rap album.

Download: Capone-N-Noreaga – The Oath (ft. Raekwon, Busta Rhymes)

Download: Capone-N-Noreaga – Dutches vs. Phillies vs. Bamboo (ft. Raekwon)

Also: the “Thug Planet” video.

As much as I’d like to write ‘album of the year’ and step away from my keyboard with a self-important sense of accomplishment, I know Big Boi’s new album deserves stronger praise.

With Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty and The ArchAndroid, Big Boi and Janelle Monae have injected a renewed sense of fun and spontaneity into pop music. Big Boi has the honor of achieving this in a genre that either clings to the past or lunges forward with obnoxious gimmicks. Big Boi jumps between styles with reckless abandon while maintaining a constant level of lyrical pandemonium. “Shine Blockas” sways with the feel-good sounds of a Harold Melvin sample while “General Patton” kindly reminds you to “Get the South dick up out your mouth.” And then there’s the electrical earthquake that is “Shutterbugg.”

Big Boi somehow ties it all together, perhaps just with sheer charisma. Sir Lucious Left Foot is blindingly vibrant and almost impossible to listen to sitting down. Hit play and get off your ass.

The ML interviewee and Beat Drop contributor just dropped  Trunk Muzik, his third mixtape. We’ve talked about Yela quite a lot lately, but really this cat deserves all the praise. This is an incredibly strong, concise mixtape with great beats, great features and great rapping. Yela handles slow numbers and double-time trunk rattlers equally well. “Pop The Trunk”  is clinic in storytelling and I think Yela actually outshined Bun on “Good To Go”. “Love Is Not Enough” is heartbreaking, the best fusion of singing and rapping on the album. No one quite sounds like dude right now, and this shit is hotter than a burning Confederate flag. Cop this.

Download: Yelawolf – Trunk Muzik Mixtape

Update: Interscope re-released Trunk Muzik as a retail EP.

Tracklisting after the jump:

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(Photo by Hannah Lipman)

View the full photo set here (Thanks Hannah & Joshua)

[Ed Note: Here is the grand recap of all the on-goings that happened this past weekend in New Orleans, as seen through the eyes of ML contributor Julie. Be sure to check out Julie’s twitter stream which had a bunch of nuggets from the festival. Also, if you would like to check out Eminem’s performance, I got word that it will be airing on Fuse as a part of the Best of Voodoo 2009 TV Special, tonight, November 6th @ 10PM EST (check the trailer here).]

Taking place during Halloween weekend in a city known as one of the greatest places in the country to don a costume, listen to music and get drunk, The Voodoo Experience 2009 inspired a lot of expectations. We’re talking Eminem, KISS on Halloween night, P. Funk, local artists that sound like nothing you’ve heard before, funky folk artists and talented craftspeople… and overall, Voodoo brought it. This festival required a stamina that most don’t because it was interrupted by some of the wildest Halloween parties in the nation. Voodoo, however, proved worthy of every ounce of effort it required to dance through each and every show.

The festival got off to a rough start with the chilliest storm New Orleans has seen all season. Mud, rain and kicking The Knux off stage didn’t make for the most promising opening day. Yet the festies got creative, borrowing trash bags from the grounds crews to make ponchos and huddling together at Justice to keep warm. With the help of a few beers and an other-worldly dance party/light show, the crowd managed to forget the cold and have a blast. Most people who lasted that long trudged through the ankle-deep mud to at least catch the first few songs from Eminem + D12 before heading out. Eminem’s decade of fame has taught him how to really wake a crowd up, showing a gory short film of a psychotic, asylum-bound, murderous Marshall Mathers. They threw in gunshot noises between songs, keeping the audience on their toes throughout Eminem’s energetic performance. When the audience finally dispersed, most people looked pumped for the next day’s shows.

Saturday’s lineup included The Black Lips, Mates of State, a cancelled K’naan show, Mutemath, Gogol Bordello, Parliament-Funkadelic and KISS. Few people showed up without a costume, and the crowd started drinking early. The festival had a friendly, frenetic vibe, people getting more and more excited as the day wore on. Strangers took pictures of and with one another, and the festival-goers traded tips on where to spend the evening between the countless after-parties, Halloween parties and Frenchmen Street.  Security wasn’t too tight, and most shows smelled strongly of pot, contributing to the audience’s already relaxed, comfortable vibe. K’naan’s cancelled show changed the locations of many artists slotted to perform around the same time, making for a confusing afternoon. Yet things got back on schedule by Mutemath.

Gogol Bordello got the festies dancing harder than any other show all weekend, save Justice. P. Funk, on the other hand, played for a relatively small, chill crowd on a quiet stage between folk art vendors’ tents. As they got funky, the majority of the festival-goers rushed toward the KISS stage, dancing through art installments on their way. The crowd was packed, and KISS was, in a word, insane. Pyrotechnics, Gene Simmons flying across the stage, an infomercial between songs to buy their new album — it’s available at WalMart, apparently Simmons has seen it there. Teens and college kids were busy texting their dads, blown away that rock ‘n’ roll used to rock this hard. Older women in leather jackets and KISS-style face paint sang every word of the KISS classics (though, as Simmons reminded us, just because something is a classic doesn’t make it an oldie). People walked out of City Park that day high from the music and drunk from the spectacle, ready for an even wilder show: the New Orleans Halloween scene.

The entire festival crowd seemed at least a little bit hungover Sunday. Relatively few people showed up before The Flaming Lips, but the Voodoo producers seem to have anticipated this. With an emptier schedule than any other day, Sunday’s big shows included The Pogues, Widespread Panic, The Flaming Lips and Lenny Kravitz. Yes, Lenny Kravitz. It was almost as if they wanted to clear the park before the final performance. Yet those who did leave before Lenny walked away with a most beautiful ending to an exhausting weekend. The almost too-mellow show saved itself by concluding with the sound of “Do You Realize?” playing under the full moon, tens of thousands strips of confetti floating in the dark sky like psychedelic stars, and an entire audience singing together “to make the good things last.”

Gutta is a hardcore rapper from Pheonix, Arizona. A city where they love ML. He just signed with Babygrande Records and hooked up with Blue Sky Black Death, the producers who worked with Hell Razah last year. We really loved the BSBD Hell Razah album, and judging from this song Gutta’s album is shaping up to be some ridiculous shit.

His music is hardcore in that Jedi Mind Tricks/Ill Bill sense. Some really hard shit, but definately don’t crank this at the office.

Gutta- Thrashin’ (Produced By Blue Sky Black Death)