Sketches Of Music: 2013

sábado, 5 de janeiro de 2013

Little Women - Throat

RECORDED

December 11, 2009

Brooklyn Recording, Brooklyn, NY

RELEASED

April 13, 2010

AUM Fidelity

PERSONNEL

Andrew Smiley - Guitar

Darius Jones - Alto Saxophone

Jason Nazary - Drums

Travis Laplante - Tenor Saxophone

Andrew Smiley - Producer

Andy Taub - Mixing, Recording

Darius Jones - Producer

Jason Nazary - Artwork [Hand Lettering, Label Art], Producer

Michael Marciano - Premastering

Mick Barr - Artwork [Cover]

Scott Hull - Lacquer Cut

Steven Joerg - Producer

Travis Laplante - Producer

TRACK LISTING

01 Throat I

02 Throat II

03 Throat III

04 Throat IV

05 Throat V

06 Throat VI

07 Throat VII

P.S.: All tracks were fully improvised.

REVIEW

Brooklyn-based quartet, Little Women, blasts out of the starting gate with its full length debut on the Aum Fidelity imprint, following up its 2008 EP. The best known of the group's constituent parts to jazz fans is alto saxophonist Darius Jones, whose Man'ish Boy (A Raw and Beautiful Thing), also on Aum Fidelity, was one of 2009's most widely acclaimed releases. But Little Women is such a team focused group that Jones' back catalogue is not a good signpost for what to expect.

The group's singular sound comes from a strong conception whereby ideas arising from group improvisation, and band members' compositions alike, are subject to joint reappraisal: all of which are sculpted into a continuous uncredited 41-minute suite. Consequently stark juxtaposition, embracing a range of genres, including free jazz, metal, folk, noise and prog, is one of Little Women's defining characteristics. Even when particular styles are utilized, the parameters are carefully controlled to fit with the overall intent. Individual expression is almost totally subsumed within the collective ethos, although guitarist Andrew Smiley is sometimes more prominent due to the ability of his axe to cut through the dense ensembles.

In a program which emphasises contrast, the uncompromising power chords and bombast of "Throat I" segue directly into a hall of mirrors of slow drifting saxophone harmonics on "Throat II." Sometimes the contrasts even come within the same piece, as with "Throat IV" where the two horns begin in folksy Americana hinting at bagpipes sonorities, sketching a soulful hymn like melody which wouldn't have sounded out of place on Jones' album, before tracing a trajectory from consonance to the dissonance of off-key twanging guitar accents and rumbling drums. Similarly on "Throat V" a nervy, episodic opening portends a process of evolution ending with a pretty musical box tune picked out on a single guitar string. Vocal grunts and sighs meld into repetitive patterns before switching up to more rapid cycling of wordless exclamations on "Throat VII": an eccentric conclusion which sidesteps the conventional idea of a climax and, like the rest of this intriguing disc, succeeds in keeping things off balance to the end.

John Sharpe

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=36223#.UOhggeTBGSo

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?e0j26c2iw7q8iqk

Little Women - Teeth

RECORDED

December 10, 2006

Excello Recording, Brooklyn, NY

RELEASED

March 4, 2008

Gilgongo Records [Vinyl Release] & Socket Records [CD Release]

P.S.: Apparently the album was first released in 2007.

PERSONNEL

Ben Greenberg - Guitar

Darius Jones - Alto Saxophone

Jason Nazary - Drums

Travis Laplante - Tenor Saxophone

Alex Sniderman - Assistant Engineer

Hugh Pool - Engineer

Mick Barr - Artwork

Raul Zahir De Leon - Layout, Typographer

Scott Hull - Mastering

TRACK LISTING

01 [Untitled]

02 [Untitled]

03 [Untitled]

04 [Untitled]

P.S.: Here's an excerpt of an interview of the band to Alibi.com, in which they explain their writing process and the reason for the name of the songs:

Tell me about your writing process.

When we started playing together, our first few shows were 100 percent improvised. We formed with no concept of a band sound, we just got together in a room and played together. The first few times we played it was really incredible because the improvisations were abnormally focused and incredible. We knew we had something special going from the beginning.

We started trying to write pieces that were structures of our improvisations. What we're doing now, our first recording that's coming out on March 4, is the first record in a series of records that we're going to be releasing annually.

You're just using numbers as titles for your songs. Why's that?

On MySpace they won't let you put one giant track. That was just a way for us to split up the piece into sub-pieces. On vinyl it's just one side and one continuous track. We have those reference track marks on the CD, but there are no pauses. We kept it like that because we recorded it all in one take from beginning to end with no edits or overdubs

http://alibi.com/music/22055/Little-Women.html

REVIEW

The four-song debut EP by Brooklyn-based noise jazz ensemble Little Women stakes out territory somewhere between Last Exit and Orthrelm, with strong echoes of the Flying Luttenbachers. Two saxophonists -- Darius Jones on alto and Travis LaPlante on tenor -- are joined by guitarist Ben Greenberg and drummer Jason Nazary, all working together to create music of great intensity, but with a surprising beauty at its core. The disc begins with a jagged and assaultive track with guitar and drums flailing in post-metal abandon, but for the first half of "Teeth II," Jones and LaPlante conduct an unaccompanied duo that's very much in the mode of late-'60s free jazz. Then the other two come rampaging back in, and the whole thing explodes again. This track leads seamlessly into the next, which is based on a repeated ensemble riff -- the members of Little Women are clearly aware of how well-focused, full-bore repetition has worked for both Albert Ayler and Slayer. The EP's concluding track, "Teeth IV," breaks down at its midpoint, and ends with three minutes of weird glossolalia-like chanting and shouting. This is highly disciplined, clearly thought-out music that carries an aura of frenzied abandon -- an unexpected and uncommon combination.

Phil Freeman

http://www.allmusic.com/album/teeth-mw0001218901

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?szppc7ncjs77wdy

sexta-feira, 4 de janeiro de 2013

Death Grips - No Love Deep Web

RECORDED

May-August, 2012

Oakland, CA & Sacramento, CA

RELEASED

October 1, 2012

Third Worlds [Self-Release]

PERSONNEL

Andy "Flatlander" Morin

Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett

Zach Hill

TRACK LISTING

01 Come Up And Get Me (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

02 Lil Boy (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

03 No Love (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

04 Black Dice (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

05 World Of Dogs (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

06 Lock Your Doors (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

07 Whammy (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

08 Hunger Games (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

09 Deep Web (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

10 Stockton (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

11 Pop (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

12 Bass Rattle Stars Out The Sky (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

13 Artificial Death In The West (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

REVIEW

For a moment, forget about the cock on the cover: The most arresting and totemic image of this week's Death Grips debacle and/or coup actually arrived about five hours before the brazen California trio released its second major-label LP, NO LOVE DEEP WEB, online, for free and under an anything-goes Creative Commons license. Shirtless so as to expose the web of tattoos on his body, Death Grips frontman MC Ride stands with his back to the camera, his middle fingers foisted high and a cigarette tucked into his left hand. But he's balancing on a balcony, high up in what appears to be a rather well-furbished neighborhood, his toes hanging just over the ledge. He's tempting fate and taking the chance to make the strongest statement possible, even if he (and the photographer overhead) had to risk a fall to the death to get it. In fact, the only incident that might have given the riot-act release of NO LOVE DEEP WEB more currency in the media would have been an accidental death. At the very least, it would have kept at bay the conspiracy theorists calling Death Grips' Monday move a publicity stunt performed in conjunction with Epic Records. "Too soon," you'd say.

At the risk of appearing moribund, that phenomenon of big stunts and instant exits largely defines NO LOVE DEEP WEB, not just in release style but also in musical makeup. These 13 tracks thrive on paranoia and aggression, feelings threaded together by the sense that everything could be ending right now. With his voice squeezed above a heavy thud and electro chirp, MC Ride rolls the dice again, as he did on the balcony's ledge: "My life on a limb about to break." Across these 46 minutes, Ride creates a series of memento mori scenarios (and even goes so far as to invoke that phrase) and dares them to destroy him. As he puts it, "Fuck this world/ Fuck this body."

The record's most obvious example is "World of Dogs", which opens with the repetitive hook "It's all suicide" over Zach Hill's death-jazz drums. Crushed by its own quest for redemption, the grueling pace and noose-necked premise-- "Die with me/ Blow out the lights, take your life/ Ride the falling sky with me"-- make the song more grim than most black metal in 2012. The hook of "Lil Boy" is an invitation to burn brighter and faster, while the mortality-obsessed and especially corrosive "Lock Your Doors" includes a falling-from-life scream convincing enough to be sampled from a horror film. A minute later, Ride pictures the flame of a candle like the sand slipping through the hourglass: "Light the candle, burn the wax/ Before me dies, in scorch uprise/ Can't deny it, no way back." It's as if NO LOVE DEEP WEB was written and recorded knowing that its ultimate fate would either kill or catapult Death Grips. Essentially, the risk becomes the biggest reward.

After all, Death Grips' rage for some unnamed and very big system is written all across these tracks, and not just in the horror-house din of "Lock Your Doors" or the militaristic march of "No Love". MC Ride weaves networks of anxious and sometimes fatalistic visions; his phone's been tapped, and phantom footsteps sound just outside the door. At one point, he's stuck in a closed-circuit surveillance system, and he's the only one who can't watch. "Tongue cut out the mouth of reason, and chucked off the river's edge," he manages in one particularly manic span, again acknowledging the end waiting just at the other side of the precipice.

He lashes out, becoming the bully with a vivid imagination and an aggressive lexicon. "Lil Boy" taunts the effete, while "No Love" (likely and hilariously Epic's would-have-been "single") teases the bloated form of stereotypical industry executives: "Fuck do you do? Fuck a man with hips for hulu." Ride buys up guns, threatens homicide, evades the law, pursues his prey, and, by his own admission, teeters toward the edge of crazy. He's most fierce on "Deep Web", an industrial-strength boomer that finds him ready to fight and flee. "I'm the coat hanger in your man's vagina," he stammers, unleashing a line vague enough to offend most everyone. It's the sort of thing you could imagine him shouting from the top of the balcony Sunday evening, spreading the bad news like heavy mortar fire.

With his schizoid panoply of voices and hyperlinked lyrics, MC Ride remains Death Grips' fountainhead and most polarizing figure. But the production of Zach Hill and Flatlander lives on the same line of danger as their leader. They afford Ride perfect platforms for his effrontery. Closer "Artificial Death in the West", for instance, is the longest track here, pushing toward the six-minute mark. Ride raps like he's stuck between failure and the future, so the music matches those "hopeless premonitions" with synthesizers suggesting krautrock tripping toward its own oblivion. "Hunger Games" explores a similar fascination with the end while the beat ruptures into ill-shaped bits. It's the sound of a troubled mind trying not to fall apart.

Loud and punishing, the sonics of NO LOVE DEEP WEB suit MC Ride's mix of hysteria, rage and exhaustion. Perhaps Epic has concerns about Death Grips' ability to make a marketable record; as Death Grips are arguably the most challenging act on a major label right now (or last week, at least), that much is founded. But their ability to integrate every part into cohesive tracks-- in other words, to marry their sound to their fury-- is rare. After a string of shows in the spring, Death Grips canceled all subsequent dates to finish NO LOVE DEEP WEB. That's a questionable career move, but the effort and attention show here at every turn.

Death Grips exist within a cloud of hyperbole, from the maximized minimalism of their savage beats and the extreme unrest of their barked lyrics to the escalating gauntlet of their album covers and their blooming disregard of industry standards. To summarize, NO LOVE DEEP WEB-- a record ostensibly paid for by a label owned by one of the biggest companies in the world but released for free on the Internet-- features an erect penis inked with the title in sloppy Sharpie script on its cover. One of its most undeniable hooks reads, "She shoot pussy through your chest, you die." Everything about this trio seems extreme.

Especially when perceived as posturing for publicity, those appearances make it difficult to realize and articulate the issues that Death Grips make so urgent. But this is a trio of itinerant transgressors, making impossible demands on the boundaries of rap and punk and rock'n'roll and questioning to the core not only what constitutes a proper release but also the standard models for turning music into money. For now, at least, NO LOVE DEEP WEB is an extraordinary outlier in most every sense, an album with no definitive home or home turf aside from the millions who will likely download it.

So, are Death Grips publicity-crazed assholes who never saw a situation that couldn't be turned into a stunt, or are they real-life renegades who infiltrated the industry only to know they'd soon rip through its bowels? Frankly, at a time when what's for dinner can become a cause for publicizing yourself, and when one industry might shut down another to restore historically accepted order, they're nothing if not a lot of both. For the second time in one year, both on a large label and on their own, they've released a record ruthless and rewarding enough to animate that image.

Grayson Currin

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17216-no-love-deep-web/

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ah1chbf82jj8gee

Death Grips - The Money Store

RELEASED

April 21, 2012

Epic Records

P.S.: This date states for the Epic Records vinyl release. The album was first released in cassette, in April 20, 2012.

PERSONNEL

Andy "Flatlander" Morin

Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett

Zach Hill

Andy "Flatlander" Morin - Producer

Angelica Cob-Baehler - Artists & Repertoire

Sua Yoo - Artwork

Zach Hill - Producer

TRACK LISTING

01 Get Got (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

02 The Fever (Aye Aye) (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

03 Lost Boys (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

04 Blackjack (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

05 Hustle Bones (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

06 I've Seen Footage (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

07 Double Helix (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

08 System Blower (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

09 The Cage (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

10 Punk Weight (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

11 Fuck That (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

12 Bitch Please (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

13 Hacker (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

REVIEW

Death Grips are angry. It's unclear why. But their thirst for vengeance, their monomaniacal desire to visit fiery destruction on the powers-that-be, is crystal-clear on The Money Store, even if nothing else-- where the hell this album came from; who plays which instrument; what the lead singer is yelling about; and what on earth this band of insurgents is doing signing an Epic Records contract with L.A. Reid-- makes much sense at all. When playing this album, the only thing I'm sure of is my overwhelming desire to split my forehead open on a cinder block.

The Sacramento group seems to have landed from an alternate planet, or at least an alternate decade when defiantly mutant outfits like this were occasionally given major-label backing. They've been persistently tagged as "rap rock" for context, but it's not a very useful description of their music. For starters, not much of The Money Store scans as rock: It's confrontational, abrasive, and chaotic, but only one of its 13 tracks includes a remotely guitar-like noise ("I've Seen Footage") and even that turns out to be a bent, sickly synthesizer. Most of the album is an alien swarm of buzzing and sputtering noises. Death Grips' Zach Hill, a drummer for the fiendishly technical noise-rock band Hella, has also chewed his way through numerous projects, including work with Marnie Stern and Boredoms, and bits of all this float through The Money Store's wildly unpredictable 41 minutes.

Whatever L.A. Reid was thinking when he signed these guys, he surely didn't meddle in their creative process. Sometimes this hands-off approach backfires, but Death Grips have actual designs to be left to, and The Money Store is a million-mph blur of ideas. One can only imagine how many hours it took to make Hill's drums sound like they're traveling inward from every corner of the mix toward its center, but the music seems to be constantly lunging out at you from all sides. A Bollywood vocal sample on "Punk Weight" is obliterated by a mortar-round hailstorm of viciously treated percussion. On "Hustle Bones", a tar-thick drone of indeterminate origin (guitar? computer?) pops into a glitter of synthesized voices. And "Hacker", the final track, hits a peak that the entire album seems to gather towards: With its simple chorus chant ("I'M IN YOUR AREA") and uncharacteristic amount of empty space, it's the only song Death Grips have recorded so far that tugs at your hips as much as it bludgeons your skull.

As for "rap": To call what lead vocalist Stefan Burnett (aka MC Ride) does "rapping" stretches the definition of the word beyond what even an avowed Lil B and Waka Flocka Flame fan like me can endorse. Burnett's deranged shouting brings a lot of things to mind-- Mark E. Smith with his mouth full, Jim Jones during an air raid, Sloth from The Goonies-- but rapping isn't one of them. Follow his lines closely and you'll slam up against the realization that you're largely transcribing word salad: "The fuck you staring at/ You know I'd be so quick to flash/ Terrified of the way a basilisk come out and skin so fast," Burnett barks on "The Cage". But his hoarse, panicked voice functions as primal fight-or-fight communication: Things Are Not All Right.

The clearest link through all the pop-culture static to the music Death Grips make is back to the ultra-aggressive, defiantly ignorant, and proudly dumb American hardcore punk-metal moment of the 1980s-- right along the Suicidal Tendencies/Fear/Cro-Mags axis. I don't watch a lot of skate videos these days, but I know a great highlight-reel song when I hear it, and every moment of The Money Store qualifies. Like those bands, Death Grips appeals to the knuckle-dragging troglodyte and the smirking smart kid in us: thick-headed goonery and bookish, viscera-free nerdiness, making beautifully misanthropic music together. Granted, The Money Store is about as intellectual an experience as a scraped knee. But it's just as good at reminding you that you're alive.

Jayson Green

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16512-death-grips-the-money-store/

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?3bhc4ea09ijrcrc

Death Grips - Black Google

RELEASED

September 9, 2011

Third Worlds [Self-Release]

PERSONNEL

Andy "Flatlander" Morin
Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett
Zach Hill

TRACK LISTING

Beware

01 Beware [Instrumental]

02 Beware [Guitar]

03 Beware [FX]

04 Beware [Drums]

05 Beware [Vocal]

Guillotine

06 Guillotine [Instrumental]

07 Guillotine [Bass]

08 Guillotine [Drums]

09 Guillotine [FX]

10 Guillotine [Vocal]

Spread Eagle Cross The Block

11 Spread Eagle Cross The Block [Instrumental]

12 Spread Eagle Cross The Block [Vocal]

Lord Of The Game [Feat. Mexican Girl]

13 Lord Of The Game [Feat. Mexican Girl] [Instrumental]

14 Lord Of The Game [Feat. Mexican Girl] [Drums]

15 Lord Of The Game [Feat. Mexican Girl] [FX]

16 Lord Of The Game [Feat. Mexican Girl] [Vocal]

Takyon (Death You)

17 Takyon (Death You) [Instrumental]

18 Takyon (Death You) [Vocal]

Klink

19 Klink [Instrumental]

20 Klink [Drums]

21 Klink [FX]

22 Klink [Vocal]

Culture Shock

23 Culture Shock [Instrumental]

24 Culture Shock [E Drums]

25 Culture Shock [Drums]

26 Culture Shock [Synth]

27 Culture Shock [FX]

28 Culture Shock [Vocal]

Thru The Walls

29 Thru The Walls [Instrumental]

30 Thru The Walls [Vocal]

Known For It

31 Known For It [Instrumental]

32 Known For It [Drums]

33 Known For It [Keys]

34 Known For It [Vocal]

I Want It I Need It (Death Heated)

35 I Want It I Need It (Death Heated) [Instrumental]

36 I Want It I Need It (Death Heated) [Drums]

37 I Want It I Need It (Death Heated) [Guitar]

38 I Want It I Need It (Death Heated) [Vocal]

Blood Creepin

39 Blood Creepin [Instrumental]

40 Blood Creepin [Drums]

41 Blood Creepin [Bass]

42 Blood Creepin [Vocal]

43 Blood Creepin [Keys]

REVIEW

P.S.: There are no reviews on the internet about this album. However, the band left this message on their website when it was released: "BLACK GOOGLE... Portal to the deconstruction of... DEATH GRIPS - EX MILITARY... the artist escapes from his work". It was already removed though.

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?rhzqa7c8kb7jipi

Death Grips - Exmilitary

RELEASED

April 27, 2011

Third Worlds [Self-Release]

PERSONNEL

Andy "Flatlander" Morin - Producer, Synthetics

Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett - Lyrics, Vocals

Zach Hill - Drum Machines, Drums

TRACK LISTING

01 Beware (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

02 Guillotine (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

03 Spread Eagle Cross The Block (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

04 Lord Of The Game [Feat. Mexican Girl] (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

05 Takyon (Death Yon) (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

06 Cut Throat (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

07 Klink (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

08 Culture Shock (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

09 5D (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

10 Thru The Walls (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

11 Know For It (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

12 I Want It I Need It (Death Heated) (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

13 Blood Creepin (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

"Beware" contains a sample of "Up The Beach" by Jane's Addiction.
"Spread Eagle Cross The Block" contains samples of "Rumble" by Link Wray and "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)" by Beastie Boys.
"Lord Of The Game [Feat. Mexican Girl]" contains samples of "Fire" by The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and "Brass Monkey" by Beastie Boys.
"Takyon (Death Yon)" contains samples of "Supertouch/Shitfit" by Bad Brains and "A Who Seh Me Dun" by Cutty Ranks.
"Klink" contains samples of "Rise Above" by Black Flag and "Liar, Liar" by The Castaways.
"Culture Shock" contains a sample of "The Supermen (Alternative)" by David Bowie.
"5D" contains a sample of "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys.
"Thru The Walls" contains a sample of "Gettin' High in the Morning" by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti.
"Known For It" contains a sample of "De Futura" by Magma.
"I Want It I Need It (Death Heated)" contains samples of "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Astronomy Domine" by Pink Floyd.

REVIEW

Energy without insight is monotonous. Insight without humor is preachy. Humor without frustration is toothless. Frustration without humanity is destructive. And humanity without energy is defeatist. If an album operates with the purpose of being a big noisy fuck-shit-up machine, missing just one of those elements can leave you with an overbearing mess, where every speaker-rattling burst of noise or cathartically screamed hook turns you back instead of getting you all riled up. Sacramento punk-rap outfit Death Grips are known for starting frothing mosh pits with a style that seems in keeping with the hardcore-meets-hip-hop confluence that first ran through skate culture a few decades back. Exmilitary, their free mixtape, is a bludgeoning slab of hostility that plays like both sides of a circa-1987 Cro-Mags b/w Just-Ice home tape bleeding through each other.

Exmilitary avoids any of the flaws outlined above, but it's still a potentially alienating album: unnerving when you're not on its aggro wavelength, inviting when you are, and transfixing either way, thanks to the aggregate work of Death Grips' core. The raspy, deliberate MC Ride doesn't so much flow as bellow. Producer/videographer Flatlander and co-producer Info Warrior hit both sides of the audio-visual equation with overloaded noise (check the "Guillotine" video for starters). Additional vocalist Mexican Girl skulks in the background and spits venom for occasional effective emphasis. And Zach Hill, the Hella drummer-- recently heard on Marnie Stern's self-titled album-- provides some of the live percussion elements. But isolating each member's specific contributions seems like a good way to make an overwhelming sound seem flimsier than it really is.

That said, MC Ride might be the most upfront element. His tendency to go hard in the rawest way possible with doomsayer verses has slotted him in a strange no-man's land between Southern and avant-rap. His tangled, diabolical lyrics are wrapped up in lust, drug panic, metaphysical power-tripping, and political agitation, and he delivers them as if every syllable were an exclamation point. And while there's not a ton of nuance, there's a surprising versatility, as Ride's rhymes range from malevolent to anxious to smart-assed. Monolithic and harsh, his voice sounds powerful doubling up the beats to the point where it doesn't even seem like a problem when it's halfway buried in the mix.

The production does its damnedest to capture punk aggression for a hip-hop context without pushing things too far in either direction. Fuck-the-cops anthem "Klink" invokes Black Flag's "Rise Above", the opening scream from Bad Brains' "Supertouch/Shitfit" punctuates "Takyon (Death Yon)", and the beat to "Spread Eagle Cross the Block" is built sturdily around Link Wray's "Rumble". On sex-maniac anthem "I Want It I Need It (Death Heated)", a devastating hijack of Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" perfectly conjures up this music's intersection of choppy, riff-heavy beat assault and psychedelic sprawl. Juke-inflected bangers like "Thru the Walls" and "Blood Creepin" blur Exmilitary's stylistic lines, and that's good-- it means not having to worry about scene purity or crossover potential, and focusing instead on just how much ferocity you can take.

Nate Patrin

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15583-exmilitary/

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?v6u8purx887qln8

Death Grips - Death Grips

RELEASED

March 8, 2011

Third Worlds [Self-Release]

PERSONNEL

Andy "Flatlander" Morin

Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett

Zach Hill

TRACK LISTING

01 Death Grips (Next Grips) (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

02 Face Melter (How To Do Impossible Things) (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

03 Full Moon (Death Classic) (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

04 Known For It (Freak Grips) (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

05 Takyon (Death Yon) (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

06 Where's It At (Death Heated) (Andy "Flatlander" Morin / Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett / Zach Hill)

REVIEW

Pitchfork: Death Grips feel extremely mission-oriented. Do you have any mantras or animating principles as a group?

ZH: Yeah: "No Representation Is Better Than Misrepresentation." Another is the idea of acceleration-- that word seems to apply to every aspect of our band. I mean acceleration in a broad, universal sense, the way you feel the pace of everything moving forward so quickly. Things are becoming archaic at a faster rate than ever before, and there's this close-mindedness that can exist even within the creative realm, like accelerating towards these old notions of what's acceptable. One of the things we do when we're able to play bigger rooms is modify the field of space with visual effects, so you get the sense of acceleration from all corners of the room-- almost like how Star Tours does it.

Pitchfork: Is your music supposed to embody that acceleration, or is it a reaction to it?

ZH: It's more of an embracing of it. We'd like our music to make you feel like you are accelerating physically and mentally. I don't mean that in an alienating sense, like we're some political band pushing our agendas on people. We're not. That's why I use more ambiguous words like "energy" and "feeling."

We're real hesitant, because we want to keep things on a day-to-day level where we can talk about being out of your mind on drugs and all those other, less-heady things that are totally real to our lives and just as relevant as the more abstract aspects. So it's weird to be like, "Our band is like the internet!" But actually it kind of is: You have all the lowest-level activity side-by-side with the highest intellect also happening within the same realm.

P.S.: I coudn't find any review of this EP on the internet, so I put an excerpt of Zach Hill's interview to Pitchfork that i think better describe the attitude of the band towards the music that features in this album.

Jayson Greene

http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/8815-death-grips/

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?bu66p601p39pe59

OFF! - OFF!

RECORDED

Kingsize Soundlabs, Los Angeles, CA

RELEASED

May 8, 2012

Vice Records

P.S.: This date states for the Vice Records vinyl release. The album was first release online, in May 07, 2012.

PERSONNEL

Dimitri Coats - Guitar

Keith Morris - Vocals

Mario Rubalcaba - Drums

Steven McDonald - Bass

Andrew Lynch - Recording

Dimitri Coats - Producer

JJ Golden - Mastering

Raymon Pettibon - Artwork

Steven McDonald - Mixing, Recording

TRACK LISTING

01 Wiped Out (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
02 I Got News For You (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
03 Elimination (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
04 Cracked (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
05 Wrong (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
06 Borrow And Bomb (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
07 Toxic Box (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
08 Man From Nowhere (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
09 Jet Black Girls (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
10 King Kong Brigade (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
11 Harbor Freeway Blues (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
12 Feelings Are Meant To Be Hurt (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
13 Vaporized (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
14 503 (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
15 Zero For Conduct (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)
16 I Need One (I Want One) (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)

REVIEW

OFF!'s self-titled LP is nastier, faster, shorter, darker and more complex than the The First Four EPs. Only a band like OFF! would become more agitated after the monumental success of its debut.

While The First Four EPs perfected three chord hardcore punk slamming, the follow up presented a challenge. In a way, The First Four EPs was almost too perfect. Were they to record 16 more songs in that vein, OFF!'s members would just be repeating what they had already done. But, were they to do something entirely different, they might lose that wonderful, undiluted rage that made them so unique and matchless. But, as vocalist Keith Morris told us directly last week, the band didn't worry abut any of that at all.

"I've never been someone who looks back and says, 'During this period, we were shooting heroin and shooting opium in the testicle and the drummer drank champagne and was strung out...' I don't pay attention to any of that stuff. Just get down and do it!"

The band's unwillingness to analyze itself resulted in what is probably the best of all possible follow ups. The band still bases its sound in high energy, jagged, three chord riff smashing with Morris screaming over the top. But, where the band threatened to jump the rails on First Four EPs, on OFF! it flies off the track and smashes into the bank across the street.

Guitarist Dimitri Coats' playing has become more unpredictable. Coats comes from a background of more complex hard rock, so its possible that he has grown tired of playing only three notes a song. Here, while Coates retains the early '80s hardcore attack, his skill allows him to shift and bend the simple three chords into formats with great depth. Instead of simply slashing out the notes, he pulls them out to their fullest extent, and bends the end so that there are tiny jagged hooks after each strum. Instead of the notes having a single tone, they bend, starting much more distorted and darker than when they began, even though each note is about 1/4 of a second long.

Song structure has developed similarly. While the songs of The First Four EPs navigated around the standard verse chorus verse structure, here the songs are cut down to maximum minimalist statements. "Wrong" doesn't so much have a structure as an evolution. "Wiped Out" and "Jet Black Girls" use feedback and distorted noise as much as music for expression.

But, just as Coats has evolved, so has Morris. While the minute frontman has been self referential in the past, he amplifies that aspect even more. On "Cracked" he attacks the ennui of either Greg Ginn, of Black Flag, his first band, or of the Circle Jerks collectively, his second band. "Feelings Were Meant to Be Hurt" finds him both praising and lamenting the formation of the first wave of West Coast hardcore. Fascinatingly, Morris says that Germs frontman Darby Crash saved his life on "Jet Black Girls."*

Like Coats' guitar, Morris' vocals have become less predicable. At times, such as on "Borrow and Bomb," he shrieks along with the snapping riffs, sounding as vitriolic and frustrated as ever. But on other tracks, like "Wrong," he rambles in an angry contemplation that is almost as much spoken word as singing. And of course, he's even more dark than before. On "King Kong Brigade" he exclaims "I want to staple your scalp to the steering wheel!"

The berserk explosions of the songs is evident by the running times. Songs are even shorter than before, with most tracks clocking in at under a minute. Where OFF! used to cut songs down to their absolute minimum, now the band cuts them beyond even that, leaving vicious fragments, that in their fractured manifestation, allow the band to leap beyond its only real previous criticism: that as good as the music sounds, it's been done before.

Well, the shattered songs here are manic tiny pieces that snap together, sort of, but not without shredding your ears, in a dangerous combination that is new and classic at the same time. This has not been done before and this is the very best way to get sliced up.

*I have to know the story behind this! He also says he had Coco Puffs with "Mr. Scratch." If that turns out to be Lee Scratch Perry, my mind will just explode.

John Gentile

http://www.punknews.org/review/11166/off-off

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?9o2blushjsuot38

OFF! - Live At Generation Records

RECORDED

October 22, 2010

Generation Records, New York City, NY

RELEASED

April 16, 2011

Vice Records

PERSONNEL

Dimitri Coats - Guitar

Keith Morris - Vocals

Mario Rubalcaba - Drums

Steven McDonald - Bass

Alex DeTurk - Mastering [Vinyl Cut]

Dave Gardner - Mastering

David Stroller - Recording

Steven McDonald - Mixing

TRACK LISTING

01 Poison City (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)

02 Now I'm Pissed (Carlo Nuccio / Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)

03 Crawl (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)

04 Rat Trap (Dimitri Coats / Keith Morris)

REVIEW

With their debut release, The First Four EPs, OFF! seemed to be reaching as far forward as they were backward. Although their tunes paid homage to hardcore's nascent stage, their music was far from mere nostalgia. Instead of just thinking about "the good ol' days", The First Four EPs seemed to suggest that music had once again become bloated and indulgent, and OFF! was here to prove that you didn't need anything more than a few instruments and a tape recorder to cut monstrous bangers.

To further their back-to-the-basics approach, OFF! played a number of record store shows, including Amoeba and Generation Records. Live at Generation Records, a release for Record Store Day 2011, is a snapshot of the band in their early (but fully-formed) stage.

Tearing through four songs in rapid succession, the band makes it clear that their first album was, for all intents and purposes, a live album without an audience. The songs here don't deviate too much from their studio counterparts, except that they are a little fiercer and a little faster. But, coming off a record that was only about 16 minutes long and prominently featured Keith Morris' barking and Dimitri Coats' slashing, the difference is for fanboys to savor*. However, "Poison City" does feature a new ending where the band breaks down into a mess of squeals and clangs instead of its previous break-slam stop-something of a Greg Ginn trademark.

Because this release is limited and the versions here aren't that different from their studio counterparts, collectors will enjoy it immensely, but the average fan should just go for The First Four EPs.

John Gentile

http://www.punknews.org/review/10204/off-live-at-generation-records-7-inch

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?e5chkz40m4ay0wb

OFF! - Compared To What / Rotten Apple

RECORDED

Kingsize Soundlabs, Los Angeles, CA

RELEASED

2011

Southern Lord

P.S.: The album was avaiable in three versions: Black vinyl with "L.A. Riots" jacket, Red vinyl with "L.A. Riots" jacket & Blue vinyl with "Vans" jacket (avaiable only on tour and briefly from Southern Lord's mailorder).

PERSONNEL

Dimitri Coats - Guitar

Keith Morris - Vocals

Mario Rubalcaba - Drums

Steven McDonald - Bass

Aaron Edge - Designer, Construction

Andrew Lynch - Assistant Engineer

Brad Boatright - Mastering

Dimitri Coats - Producer

Steven McDonald - Mixing, Recording

TRACK LISTING

01 Compared To What (Gene McDaniels)

02 Rotten Apple (Chris Tinker)

REVIEW

Before embarking on their first national tour, OFF! solicited fans via Facebook for suggestions for cover songs to be featured on this seven-inch. Ignoring the fans' obvious suggestions (including my own Alice Cooper pitch...*sniff sniff*), they picked two fairly obscure songs that despite being written over a decade before any band member first recorded music, sound like they were specifically composed for the band.

"Compared to What", the A-Side is a cover of a Eugene McDaniels* composition. Although the band supplies new backing music that fits in line with their short, snappy hardcore, Morris interjects his vitriolic snarl into the lyrics. Where McDaniels' version seem to be a call together for the oppressed, Morris' take on the lyrics seem to be warning the oppressor to just back up, man, Just. Back. Up!

The B-side, "Rotten Apple" is a cover of an obscure tune by the regional garage band ID. The lyrics fit perfectly to OFF!'s themes of not quite fitting in anywhere and being forced into clothes that don't quit fit. While the original had a good-timey bop despite its down lyrics, OFF! once again rev up the engine and make the song not so much a fun time as an angry one.

Only about a year old, OFF! has already released a 7" box set, a live EP, and a covers single. If they can keep up that pace with this level of quality, then the best musical output of these individuals artists is likely yet to come.

John Gentile

http://www.punknews.org/review/10215/off-compared-to-what-7-inch

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?083x323w9gngobw

OFF! - First Four EPs

RECORDED

January 17, 2010 (1st & 2nd EPs) & August 25, 2010 (3rd & 4th EPs)

Kingsize Soudlabs, Los Angeles, CA

RELEASED

December 14, 2010

Vice Records

P.S.: This date states for the Vice Records vinyl release. The album was first released online, in November 23, 2010.

PERSONNEL

Dimitri Coats - Guitar

Keith Morris - Vocals

Mario Rubalcaba - Drums

Steven McDonald - Bass

Andrew Lynch - Mixing, Recording

Andy Somers - Booking

Brady Brock - Manager

Danny Goldberg - Manager

Dimitri Coats - Designer, Producer

JJ Golden - Mastering

Joe Sofio - Legal Counsel

Raymon Pettibon - Artwork, Liner Notes

Sean Peterson - Photographer

Steven McDonald - Mixing, Recording

TRACK LISTING

1st EP

01 Black Thought (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

02 Darkness (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

03 I Don't Belong (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

04 Upside Down (Dimitri Coat / Greg Hetson / Keith Morris)

2nd EP

05 Poison City (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

06 Now I'm Pissed (Carlo Nuccio / Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

07 Killing Away (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

08 Jeffrey Lee Pierce (Dimitri Coat / Jeffrey Lee Pierce / Keith Morris)

3rd EP

09 Panic Attack (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

10 Crawl (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

11 Blast (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

12 Rat Trap (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

4th EP

13 Fuck People (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

14 Full Of Shit (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

15 Broken (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

16 Peace In Hermosa (Dimitri Coat / Keith Morris)

REVIEW

The very last scene in the 2006 documentary American Hardcore finds Zander Schloss of the Circle Jerks delivering a eulogy. "It was over a long time ago! It's over, okay? Go home! Your cage is clean." The screen goes black just as Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown" starts up; the vocal is by Keith Morris, Black Flag co-founder and Schloss' longtime boss in the Circle Jerks. It's a funny juxtaposition, considering the recent history of the Circle Jerks; though Morris attempted to keep the Jerks' engine running after yet another failed go, he and Burning Brides frontman Dimitri Coats teamed up, called a couple of buddies, ground out 16 songs. The results would stop in their tracks anybody who'd dare declare punk rock dead. Morris was around for the birth of hardcore, and from the sound of his new band OFF!, they're going to have to drag him away from the stuff, screaming.

For OFF!, Morris and Coats rang up bassist Steven McDonald of the perennially underrated Redd Kross, and Rocket From the Crypt/Earthless drummer Mario "Ruby Mars" Rubalcaba. Coats may be OFF!'s least known quantity, but here, as with the stoner rock of his Brides, he's got an adaptable style and ear for detail that are perfect for this recapturing job. McDonald holds down the low end with an uncharacteristic simplicity that suits these airtight tracks to a T. And Ruby Mars couldn't have been a tough call, hell of a drummer that he is; you'd have to be to hold these songs together. These guys might be punks, but after years in the game, they're total pros. And all that backstory melts away in three seconds on this bruiser of a record, one that reignites the hardcore spirit and turn-on-a-dime intensity of Morris' work with Black Flag and early Circle Jerks years without ever coming off like a history lesson.

OFF! is Morris' show, and for all their help getting him back to his roots, the band keeps out of his way, firing off blistering, not-a-second-too-long rumbles that feel shot out of a cannon. But having some new blood in the room lights a raging fire under Morris, and he pounces on these tracks. As ever, he speak-shouts with an unusual clarity, even when he's spraying out a ton of words at once. But it's the adaptability of his voice that's most stunning, the way he'll start out spitting and then swoop down into a scream. Lyrically, the OFF! songs seem to play on Morris' role as an angry young man all grown up; a line like "you wonder why I'm always screaming?" would sound fine coming from some 17-year-old with a glue-stuck mohawk, but given Morris' elder statespunk position, the question deepens, the emphasis falls on the "always." The young dude declaring "I've Had It" three decades back still shouts "Fuck People" with equal fervor.

First Four EPs crams 16 tracks into just over 17 minutes; the thing's packed so tightly, an extra second here or there could feel like one too many. This is lean, propulsive hardcore, played just as it would've been in L.A. circa 1981. The live-in-a-room recording lets you all but hear the sweat drip on the mic, Morris' hair slapping into Coats' amp. The breathless intensity of Morris' vocals is matched by the one-and-done feel of the musicianship; as Coats told Pitchfork last month, "the demo is the record," and no decision's been overthought. Morris spent a decade and a half trying to get the Circle Jerks together enough to make another album, and this thing sounds like it was made in two days, almost for the hell of it, and those lowered stakes result in a ramped-up fervor.

Even with the short runtime, First Four EPs really takes it out of you; each EP takes you through highs and lows in quick succession, so hearing all four straight through is like being put through a tenderizer. For all their ripchord intensity, I wish they'd made just a little more room for McDonald, whose work with Redd Kross proved him more adept at sneaking intricate bass lines under hardcore rhythms than he's allowed here. But these are, after all, the first four EPs, which assumes there's more to come. You could argue that there's a nasty conservative streak running through these four EPs, that Morris already made better versions of this record with his previous bands. But OFF! feels less like a regression than a regrouping, a shoring up of old strengths with the hopes of recapturing an old feeling. And that much they nail.

In an indie rock landscape that typically values complex arrangements, subtlety, and good taste, OFF! are not just refreshing, but totally necessary. It's an economic shithole out there right now-- the same conditions that led to hardcore in the first place. This music is built for a climate of frustration and powerlessness, and its bare-knuckled punch-in-the-face is a long-needed wake-up call to nostalgic escapism. Get mad instead.

Paul Thompson

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14919-first-four-eps/

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?tn6e64el61912h6

quinta-feira, 3 de janeiro de 2013

Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio Recovered: The Remix EP

RELEASED

October 9, 2012

Blue Note Records

PERSONNEL

?uestlove - Producer - (Track 4)
9th Wonder - Producer (Track 1)
Georgia Anne Muldrow - Producer (Track 3)
Jewels - Producer (Track 5)
Pete Rock - Producer (Track 2)
Robert Glasper - Producer

TRACK LISTING

01 Afro Blue [Feat. Erykah Badu] [9th Wonder's Blue Light Basement Remix Feat. Phonte] (Mongo Santamaría)

02 Black Radio [Feat. Yasiin Bey] [Pete Rock Remix] (Chris Dave / Derrick Hodge / Robert Glasper / Yasiin Bey)

03 The Consequences Of Jealousy [Feat. Meshell Ndegeocello] [Georgia Anne Muldrow's Sassy Geemix] (Meshell Ndegeocello / Robert Glasper)

04 Twice [?uestlove's Twice Baked Remix Feat. Solange & The Roots] (Erik Bodin / Hakan Wirestrand / Yukimi Nagano)

05 Letter To Hermione [Feat. Bilal] [Robert Glasper And Jewels Remix Feat. Black Milk] (David Bowie)

06 Dillalude #2 (J Dilla)

REVIEW

It has already become one of the most celebrated projects of 2012: Robert Glasper’s Black Radio has won over critics and fans alike as the most accessible jazz projects by the progressive jazz pianist, composer, arranger and producer. Black Radio delivered something new, with a bevy of named underground royals (and mainstream titleholders with pauper cred) like Bilal, KING, and Erykah Badu to sweeten the spoonfuls of abstract expressions playing underneath the readily digestible melodies of standards like “Afro Blue” and originals such as “Black Radio.” As easy as the original is on casual consumer ears, the remix versions of those songs on Black Radio Recovered: The Remix EP are challenging. What ultimately gets recovered in these six repackaged cuts is Glasper’s own innovative creativity and much missed voice.

With the exception of an electric cover of Kurt Cobain’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” what was buried in the palatable commerciality of Black Radio was Glasper’s own signature eccentricity as a musician and a producer. Recapturing the beautiful strangeness of his earlier works was the tall order that Glasper slammed his black Amex down to reclaim. Here he does so with credit to spare. His abstract approach to Little Dragon’s “Twice” is spine-tingling in its brilliance as both cerebral exercise and joyous listening experience. With The Roots and Solange joining the fun on “?uestlove’s Twice Baked Remix,” what was once Eastern spare and wintry now bursts with new life and textures thanks to the disruptions of various live instruments like the violin and, interestingly enough on a remix, live drums, in addition to the spacey electronic hip hop elements.

A similar explosion of the modest and elegiac occurs on the remix of “Letter to Hermoine” (featuring Bilal), courtesy of insistent percussions, repetitious dark piano chords, and Black Milk’s unintended impression of Method Man. The “Robert Glasper and Jewels remix” of “Letter…” becomes the soundtrack for American Gothic: Urban Edition. What could be chaotic and self-indulgent is instead a breathtaking, repeat-worthy bit of hip hop macabre that used to be the province of Wu-Tang and early Beanie Siegel.

An atmospheric song that experienced smooth sailing on its original voyage is refreshed but less yare here in its cluttered post-modern musical expressions. Despite a galloping bassline that keeps the song moving along, Georgia Anne Muldrow’s Sassy Geemix of “The Consequences of Jealousy” featuring Me’shell Ndegeocello, just doesn’t seem to ride anywhere special. Its hall of mirrors distortions seeming to be just ‘cause, whereas the original was pretty clear in its sultry declarations. This version feels more like the threat reflected in the song’s title.

Glasper and his pal, yasiin bey (formerly Mos Def) strip down the “Pete Rock Remix” of the title track, making each of bey’s vocal gunfire “bang(s)” more startlingly powerful in the process. When yasiin stops the rabid fire rhyming to climb the soul scales and belt for his life, Glasper’s ceaselessly moving track becomes the springboard for every Black genre dive—from rap to blues to soul to jazz—to tens across the board. It’s the reimagining that is the easiest outside of the fairly by-the-book remix of “9th Wonder’s Blue Light Basement Remix” featuring Phonte, a hip hop take on the jazz standard that itself feels like a pleasant holdover from a Foreign Exchange release.

Since his untimely death (and even before), Detroit producer Jay Dilla has been ever present among the producers of this era. Glasper is no less impacted by the producer’s ubiquitous influence on this culture’s indie musicians’ and producers’ ears. With its own auto-tuned interpolation of Bobby Caldwell’s “The Light,” Glasper’s nine-minute multi-movement homage to Dilla, “Dillalude,” is a fitting close for a project that is at times as fresh and energizing as the man to whom this tribute was made. With work this left and yet this embraceable, Glasper’s well on his way to being a source of influence and inspiration of his own. Glad to have you back. Highly Recommended.

L. Michael Gipson

http://www.soultracks.com/robert-glasper-experiment-black-radio-recovered-remix-review

DOWNLOAD

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?xib438rgexl45sb

Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio

RELEASED

February 28, 2012

Blue Note Records

P.S.: This date states for the Blue Note release. The album was first released in Japan, in February 22, 2012.

PERSONNEL

Casey Benjamin - Alto Saxophone (Tracks 3, 6 & 9-10), Vocoder (Tracks 1, 3-4, 8 & 12), Flute (Tracks 2 & 11)

Chris Dave - Drums

Derrick Hodge - Bass

Robert Glasper - Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] (Track 1-9 & 12), Piano (All Tracks)

Amber Strother - Backing Vocals (Track 6), Lead Vocals (Track 6)

Anita Bias - Vocals (Track 6)

Bilal - Vocals (Tracks 4 & 11)

Chrisette Michele - Vocals (Track 7)

Erykah Badu - Vocals (Track 2)

Jahi Sundance - Turntables (Tracks 1, 8, 10 & 12)

Lalah Hathaway (Tracks 3 & 12)

Ledisi - Vocals (Track 5)

Lupe Fiasco - Vocals (Track 4)

Meshell Ndegeocello - Vocals (Track 8)

Musiq Soulchild - Finger Snaps (Track 7), Vocals (Track 7)

Paris Strother - Keyboards (Track 6)

Shafiq Husayn - Vocals (Track 1)

Stokley Williams - Percussion (Tracks 9 & 12), Vocals (Track 9)

Yasiin Bey - Vocals (Track 10)

Angelika Beener - Liner Notes
Bryan-Michael Cox - Producer (Track 7)
Casey Benjamin - Arranger (Track 8)
Cem Kurosman - Publisher
Chris Athens - Mastering
Cognito - Photographer
Eli Wolf - Artists & Repertoire, Executive Producer
Gordon H. Jee - Art Director
Jewell Green - Photographer
Keith Lewis - Engineer
Max Ross - Engineer
Michael Schreiber - Photographer
Nicole Hegeman - Executive Producer, Manager, Production Coordinator
Qmillion - Mixing
Robert Glasper - Arranger (Tracks 2 & 12), Producer
Shanieka D. Brooks - Marketing
Steve Cook - Artists & Repertoire
Todd Bergman - Assistant
Vincent Bennett - Manager

TRACK LISTING

01 Lift Off [Feat. Shafiq Husayn] / Mic Check (Robert Glasper / Shafiq Husayn)

02 Afro Blue [Feat. Erykah Badu] (Mongo Santamaría)

03 Cherish The Day [Feat. Lalah Hathaway] (Andrew Hale / Sade / Stuart Matthewman)

04 Always Shine [Feat. Bilal & Lupe Fiasco] (Lupe Fiasco / Robert Glasper)

05 Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.) [Feat. Ledisi] (Ledisi / Robert Glasper)

06 Move Love [Feat. KING] (Amber Strother / Anita Bias / Robert Glasper)

07 Ah Yeah [Feat. Chrisette Michele & Musiq Soulchild] (Chrisette Michele / Derrick Hodge / Musiq / Robert Glasper)

08 The Consequences Of Jealousy [Feat. Meshell Ndegeocello] (Meshell Ndegeocello / Robert Glasper)

09 Why Do We Try [Feat. Stokley Williams] (Jeff Allen / Lawrence Waddell / O'Dell / Ricky Kinchen / Stokley Williams)

10 Black Radio [Feat. Yasiin Bey] (Chris Dave / Derrick Hodge / Robert Glasper / Yasiin Bey)

11 Letter To Hermione [Feat. Bilal] (David Bowie)

12 Smells Like Teen Spirit (Dave Grohl / Krist Novoselic / Kurt Cobain)

REVIEW

Depending on your age, Houston-born pianist/composer Robert Glasper is—like trumpeters Christian Scott and Ambrose Akinmusire, and bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding-either the herald of a new world a-comin' when jazz musicians will be heard on pop radio on a regular basis, or he's a throwback to the golden age of the seventies, when jazz stars, from Herbie Hancock to Donald Byrd, were played on African-American and pop stations.

Blessed with a fleet-fingered, countrified approach to the piano that blends gospel, Thelonious Monk and hip-hop producer J Dilla, Black Radio is a propulsive, poetic and profound recording that deftly and defiantly destroys the market-driven barriers that sadly make terrestrial radio the Apartheid-airwave experience it is today. Like the most successful jazz musicians who had pop hits back in the day, Glasper understands that it's not about extended, solos (those can be heard on his last three Blue Note releases); it's about creating an open, melodic and rhythmic quantum universe where, in Duke Ellington's beautiful phrase, "the feeling of jazz" effortlessly melds with R&B, rock, hip-hop, neo-soul and quiet storm formats.

Glasper also perceptively peeped that great records are all about the collab, and on Black Radio he's in superb company, with Erykah Badu, Ledisi, Chrisette Michele, Bilal, Lalah Hathaway and Musiq Soulchild, lending their neo-soul vocals on blue-lights-in-the-basement ballads like "Ah Yeah," and Sade's "Cherish The Day." Glasper and company puts a turbo-charged, hip-hop spin on Mongo Santamaria's Latin jazz classic "Afro-Blue," and the leader revives his own "Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.)," previously released on In My Element (Blue Note, 2007), but this time with lyrics rendered in lush-life fashion by Ledisi. Rapper Mos Def's Crooklyn cadences rock the title track, contrasted by the martial reinterpretation of David Bowie's guitar-centric "Letter to Hermione" and a twilight-toned reimagining of Nirvana's classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit," complete with Casey Benjamin's grooving and ghostly vocoder lead vocal, and Hathaway's ethereal fills.

Buoyed by the swing-at-the-speed-of-sound support of Benjamin, drummer, Chris Dave and bassist Derrick Hodge, the ingenious, swinging, syncopated science of the Robert Glasper Experiment will no doubt make the 21st century reintegration of jazz aesthetic into pop radio a reality.