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Wednesday, October 12, 2011
CD Reviews CD Review: J. Cole, "Cole World: The Sideline Story"
Posted By Mark Kemp on Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 9:24 AM
In an episode of the CBS courtroom drama The Guardian that aired in 2003, attorney James Mooney, played by actor Charles Malik Whitfield, tries to persuade an academically gifted young man to stay in college and keep living with his adopted white parents instead of running off to New York with a group of thugs to become a rapper. In a pivotal scene, the attorney confronts the young artist, who’s concerned that his white family will damage his street cred. Mooney asks the kid if he’s ever actually experienced the gun-battle mayhem in his lyrics. The answer is no, of course, and the underlying suggestion is that since the kid’s credibility is already compromised, he should focus on something besides hip-hop.
Eight years and one Kanye West later, the idea that a mainstream rapper without proper street cred should consider another career is TV-script banality at its worst, even if it didn’t seem so ridiculous to some folks a few years ago when Fiddy was bragging about the nine bullets he’s taken. Despite what some corporate record labels continue to sell, great hip-hop has never been about how gangsta an artist is. It’s about good beats, good wordplay, good delivery, and good storytelling — period.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
CD Reviews CD Review: Megafaun's "Megafaun"
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM
Megafaun
Megafaun
Hometapes; Release date: Sept. 20, 2011
Durham psych-folk trio Megafaun has released its fourth studio effort — a self-titled, 15-song album full of rhythmic soundscapes thick with vocal harmonies and orchestral flourishes. The group, formed from the dust of DeYarmond Edison (a band that also included Bon Iver's Justin Vernon), consists of bassist/guitarist Brad Cook, his keyboard-playing brother Phil, and percussionist Joe Westerlund.
The hour-long album begins with “Real Slow,” a plugged-in folk tune with a riff reminiscent of the Grateful Dead’s “Birdsong” and rich vocal blending that would make Crosby Stills and Nash smile. Don’t lump this into some pile of hippie leftovers, though; there’s plenty of range contained here to draw interest from various genre-lovers.
Percussion drives “These Words,” balanced by chimes and chirps that bounce between speakers before settling into another vocal blend. Just when you think it’s over, the band unleashes frantic, jazz-inspired cacophony.
Friday, September 16, 2011
CD Reviews CD Review: Primus' "Green Naugahyde"
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 10:10 AM
Primus
Green Naugahyde
ATO Records; Sept. 13, 2011
Alt-rock trio Primus returns with its first studio effort since 1999's Antipop, featuring original drummer Jay Lane — who departed in 1988 — back alongside bassist/singer Les Claypool and guitarist Larry LaLonde.
The 13-track album opens with a throwaway intro before kicking into "Hennepin Crawler," a funky-but-repetitive song spotlighted with a few solos and Claypool's talk-sing style.
"Last Salmon Man" gives the impression that it's another in the long line of "Fisherman's Chronicles" from albums past with its fishing/ocean theme. The middle breaks down into a Zappa-esque veil of falsetto and funk before sliding back into the initial groove. The song provides a six-minute journey, as most in the "Chronicles" have done, carrying the listener along in the storytelling through lyrics and musicianship.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
CD Reviews CD Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Wed, Aug 31, 2011 at 10:20 AM
Red Hot Chili Peppers
I'm With You
Warner Bros.; Release date: Aug. 30, 2011
The Deal: California quartet releases its tenth studio album, first with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. I could give you background about the band and Klinghoffer, but let's get right to the music...
Thursday, August 25, 2011
CD Reviews CD Review: The Green Album
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 2:39 PM
Various Artists
The Green Album
Walt Disney Records; Aug. 23, 2011
The Deal: Modern-day artists take on classic Muppet-related songs.
The Good: Tackling childhood memories is never a wise task (note to the creators of The Smurfs and Yogi Bear movies), but with the right approach it can be done. Enter The Green Album — a collection of songs that are a fine walk down nostalgia lane. It opens with OK Go's take on "The Muppet Show" theme song, teetering on a fine line between homage and ruin. I think they pulled it off though, modernizing the classic tune thanks to use of Theremin and electric guitar solos.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
CD Reviews CD review: SPIN's 'Newermind'
Posted By Tommy Werner on Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 2:21 PM
The Deal: After 20 years and thousands of copycat attempts, Nirvana's Nevermind is still getting kids to flannel up and rail against popular music. The August issue of SPIN reflects on the last two decades and offers a treat to disaffected fans. Today through July 25, friends of SPIN's Facebook page can get Newermind, a track by track tribute for free.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
CD Reviews CD review: Ziggy Marley
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Wed, Jun 22, 2011 at 1:56 PM
Ziggy Marley
Wild and Free
Tuff Gong; Release date: June 14, 2011
The Deal: Five-time Grammy winner releases his fourth solo studio album.
Monday, March 14, 2011
CD Reviews / New Releases / News Mixtape review: Childish Gambino's EP
Posted By Mike McCray on Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 12:43 PM
The Deal: Rapper, actor, comedian finds some time between stand-up and his NBC show Community to release some new music.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
CD Reviews / News CD review: Black Eyed Peas' The Beginning
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 2:43 PM
Black Eyed Peas
The Beginning
Nov. 30, 2010
The Deal: Quartet releases its latest club-ready album full of autotune.
The Good: Sometimes Fergie looks pretty hot. Sadly, there are no visuals on a CD.
The Bad: Where do I start on this one? The Black Eyed Peas sound like they've abandoned all sense of originality and have instead tried to put autotune on as much as possible. Fergie can sing, but they still put autotune on her voice?
The opening track, "The Time," is a Dirty Dancing throwback to "The Time of My Life." A couple of tracks later, they actually make a chorus out of the phrase "me love you long time."
The group used to make socially conscious music and offered a message. Now, they're simply trying to get asses moving in the club. It's sad, really. I don't know that I'd even consider most of these songs ready for radio. They're just terrible. "Love You Long Time" has a basic keyboard chord change with a simple techno beat behind it. I mean, did they even try for the new album?
"Someday" wins this album's award for repetition. It's clearly trying to take the place of "I Gotta Feeling."
Fergie has a chance to let her vocals go a bit on "Whenever," but that lyrically weak song is hiding among the rest of the crap contained within.
Many times, I would listen to a track and think, "Surely this has to be over soon" only to realize that it was maybe halfway done. ::SKIP::
The Verdict: The group used catchy choruses to win over the masses in the past, but I can't even say there's anything very catchy here. "The Time" will win the hearts of mindless Dirty Dancing fans, but that's about it. The quartet is better than this, but you'd never know it from this mindless blathering.
They should have spent less time on the road playing the same setlist over and over and more time in the studio. Get ready to suffer through this at the Super Bowl halftime in January.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
CD Reviews / New Releases / News CD Review: Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.'s Record Collection
Posted By Mike McCray on Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 3:07 PM
The Deal: International tastemaker, producer and guitarist drops an eclectic album with his band, The Business Intl.
The Good: What some would call all over the the place, I call awesome. Ronson pulled together some great guest appearances to go with his genre-bending soundtrack. There's Q-Tip over the "Bang Bang Bang." Ghostface Killah shouting out Michael Bivens and Bell Biv Devoe on "Lose It (In The End)." D'Angelo springing up seemingly out of the abyss for "Glass Mountain Trust."
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Charlotte Video Project: Forever FC
From Sept. 11 through Sept. 15, Vibes will unveil 11 music-related videos.
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Live review, photos: Chickenfoot 4
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Live review: Kings of Leon 21
A live review, photos and setlist from the Kings of Leon concert at Bojangles Coliseum on April 30, 2009.
