This Is Book’s Music

Versions (Aagoo) may be a pit stop EP as Au are in the middle of recording a new album, but even if you have their earlier releases, you’ll want to pick this up as it primarily features new versions of songs from those old releases.

The new track on this EP is the powerful “Ida Walked Away”, but to hear revisions of “RR vs. D” and “All Myself’ are treats in itself. They create some nice power pop with hints of Afro-pop, punk, progressive rock, and new wave, what I like is that even with a song with a strong theme, they’re not going to go about it in a roundabout way, and that’s what has made them a favorite among their fans. At times their music sounds like a suicidal dirge, while other tracks are festive and come off like the kind of parade you wish you had in your city/town.

New fans can buy this and then go back to previous works. Older fans will love this and then protest somewhere for a new album to come out quicker.

Built By Snow are like a blend of The Cars, Green Day, and Jonas Brothers and while Mega could easily be a reflective look back at the brightness of late 70′s/early 80′s music, I think the trend is coming to a crusty end and this just ends up sounding like what everyone has attempted to do for the last five years.

There are some nice songs, but nothing that would make me want to hear this over and over and over. It’s Cars-ish, but if I want that, I can listen to The Cars, right down to the mention of the words “let’s go” in “All The Weird Kids Know”. It’s okay, but give it something that makes me want to hear it for more than its nostalgic factor.

Gift Of Gab‘s new album, Escape 2 Mars, will be released on November 3rd, just in time for you to collect aluminum cans and turn them in to buy this. You can pre-order it now through Giftstribution.com (his online store), but to preview it, take a listen to a track he did with Del The Funky Homosapien and Brother Ali called “Dreamin’” (4.69mb)

It’s all about the tapes, the clots of Kleenex and toilet paper where the recording tabs used to be, it’s about taking your mom’s Michael Bolton cassingle and dubbing something over it so you had your own custom tape.

The legendary J-Zone speaks and shares his cassette collection with the world. The racks shown look very close to what I used for my CD’s.

Real G’s Rock Tapes from richdirection on Vimeo.

To find out what J-Zone is doing, click to his official MySpace page.

At first I wasn’t sure what to make of Nine:Fifteen, where they a hip-hop group trying to be new wave-ish, where they a pop group using hip-hop just to act cool, was this on some hipster shit, or just something unknown? I was intrigued, so I listened, listened more, and then listened again.

Electric Blanket (Candlewax) are a group that aren’t about doing things in a straightforward or direct way, and that’s good. They seem to be a mixture of N*E*R*D*, Black Eyed Peas, Lupe Fiasco, Gym Class Heroes, and Big Tittie Nippleclips. There are moments where they’re rhyming in a way where you want to say “damn, that’s really nice” and other times they’re trying to convert pop and pop-rock sensibilities into a hip-hop context and it doesn’t quite work.

Songs that do work on here include “Rugged”, “Dr. Johnson”, and “Guarded Things”, and when it does work, they sound like the kind of guys that could open up for Time Machine and make the crowd pumped.

Now, when I don’t listen to it as a hip-hop album, it’s a really trippy listen and is less confusing, it makes me laugh a lot because it doesn’t sound like something that should be properly cohesive. In a time where ringtones are king, does it matter of any music cohesive? Maybe not, and maybe this could be just some random slices of boof baf sliced into it with a hint of pepper and paprika. If that’s the case, then they could the kind of group that would be alongside the likes of New Kingdom, but that suggests that their foot is planted firmly in hip-hop. If it’s not directly hip-hop, then one can hear a group who likes to flip flop, and hip-hop purists aren’t going to like this. If you like your music to be as unpredictable as a John Zorn attack of the senses, you’re going to find that within the context of Nike:Fifteen. I think it’s safe to say not everyone is going to understand this, but if you feel something while listening to it, let it molest your ears until it tingles your peepee hole. Then you will approach the dionysian. In other words, once you grasp onto something, pull it in until you are immersed in its juiceess. Then approach the dionysian.

“How much more can be done in hip-hop?” may be a question that people may ask themselves on a regular basis, but that’s only because their scope of what hip-hop should sound like is limited. What I hear on Delorean‘s No More Heroes is what it states in the spoken intro, and that is the thing that’s been missing all these years. You may not be able to describe it, but once you hear it, it unfolds to reveal something so incredible that you have to let the world know about it.

The first track tells the story of how we have lived in a world with such greatness. But now it feels as if that greatness is gone and everyone is running around with chickens without heads. Essentially they reveal that this world has the album title. Then “Chapter 7″ begins and the beat sounds like impending doom. You realize this is hip-hop, but it sounds ugly, images are distorted, and then the blurriness becomes clear: this ain’t Kansas, and we’re not even near a damn rainbow.

5th Ave is the MC who begins by analyzing the scene in his lyrics, and while the music still sounds like there’s no hope, he basically says there has to be some optimism for survival. “My Most Favorite MC” gets into the ego of things, and while you still hear haunting choruses in the background, there’s still a tendency to headnot. “Look Alice” then begins and 5th Ave starts talking about how deep the rabbit hole goes, revisiting Alice In Wonderland and showing how non-related stories of our past can be given an effective hip-hop twist. Then things take a complete 180 with “Needy Girl” and he’s creating a love song towards those ladies who just can’t get enough. Things could get too comfortable, but with the help of Dahlak, C Plus and DJ Flow, it’s time to pop the truck and unload the funk and allow the vibes to flow through in “Chillin’” as they show pride to the city of Sacramento.

Jon Reyes knows what he’s doing behind the boards, keeping to what moves him from the past, but bringing in his own qualities in the beats and productions he ends up with. There’s a confidence in these tracks that bring to mind Chad Hugo and The Automator, with just a rawness that basically says “these are some funky bass beats, I’m going to move you, just let yourself go.” The dark tones of these songs help shape these songs, but when he turns around (as if it was the musical equivalent of seeing a hot lady in the club and your whole vibe is interrupted) and delivers something new, it doesn’t sound forced. It’s just right. It’s a Cali vibe, a Northern Cali vibe, but even without getting too territorial, it’s just damn good hip-hop, with lines you’ll want to remember, with beats that’ll make you go Goodwill hunting.

Curious about what others thought about vocalist Inara George, I typed out her name and the name of her new album, Accidental Experimental (Everloving) and I casually glanced through reviews. I only looked through one review, and she was combared to Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, and Aimee Mann. I don’t know if the word wispy would be right, for I did a search for that word and came across this definition:
One that is thin, frail, or slight

Maybe one tends to hear a delicate-sounding female voice and says “oh, wispy”, but then I found this definition:
A fleeting trace or indication; a hint

I like that, “a hint”.

Inara George is a woman who seems to have the kind of love of pop that was plentiful in the 60′s and 70′s, where an arranger would receive was much accolades as a producer. She sings about the wonders of the world while pondering on the wonders of herself, through musical tales where guitar melodies are swept over by string sections. The music itself is not experimental, but it is definitely crafty and highly creative. “Can’t Say No” sounds like a semi-new wave track, but immerse yourself in the sound and its worse are as modern as they might have been in 1981:

if you believe what I believe
if you believe what I believe
I will drink all the water that you place in front of me
Bring it on and send it away
Do you remember what I said yesterday?
My machine is still working but my hands are cold as clay

In other songs you may hear xylophones and wooden percussion becoming the bed for her words, other sounds may sound like country music if the musicians had taken some peyote, and perhaps the tendency to call her a folk artist merely comes from the mood and tone of these songs. There are important messages here, but folk these isn’t, unless you want to call them modern day folk tales. Production junkies will love the way this album sounds, where everything has its place, and there’s room for surprises, such as George’s background vocals in “Greedy” with a hint of reverb that makes it sound like a curious rain.

If someone like Inara George could have the same kind of attention that Norah Jones received years ago, it would show that people really do care about quality music made by someone who wants to move people as much as she wants to be moved. But Jones’ popularity was arguably pushed by publicists and… you know what, let me stop comparing her to Norah Jones. The only similarities these two women have is that wispy voice, and that’s it. For me, I would prefer to hear George over and over, as there’s something in her lyrics and the way she sings them that moves me. Her imagery becomes very vivid in my mind and I want to be taken on those journeys. Accidental Experimental makes getting lost in music a good way to spend an hour or two.

Imaad Wasif is an artist whose music combines the best of Jeff Buckley, Lenny Kravitz, and Beck‘s serious side. The Voidist (Tee Pee) is an album by someone who has a love for the craft of pop music but wants to do it in a not-so-roundabout way. If you like the rise of emotion that groups like Radiohead or Coldplay tend to have, Wasif takes these things but turns them into aggressive pop songs.

It tends to bring to mind the first time U2 started to make an impact, especially with songs like “Priestess”, “Fangs”, “Her Sorcery”, where he talks about the wizardy of a woman’s beauty with guitars and a tamborine, a method that would’ve been perfect if placed on Meddle or Wish You Here, right down to the singing to the solo with his guitar.

Even with all of the people I’m comparing him too (and again those are first impressions), one begins to hear what he’s trying to do on his own. When he’s electric, he vibrates. When he wants to relax with a cup of tea, it’s a nice smelling brew. Here’s to more nice smelling brews.

Deto-22 and Sketch Tha Cataclysm decided they need to get together to brainstorm and come up with music that would not only represent what they do as individuals, but perhaps let people into what was going on in Connecticut. The end result is something called The Sharing Is Caring EP, and I like the fact that they came out with an EP, so that fans that didn’t like them can move on. Those that do find a liking, they can hold on and prepare for what will be a bigger dose.

Sketch Tha Cataclysm is the man behind the rhymes, and outside of enjoying how he rhymes and what he has to say, it also sounds like he’s very much into the music created by Deto-22, known for his work with Phenetiks. To me, it doesn’t sound flown in, or “here, I’m a hot producer, just rhyme over it since you’re really using my name to sell product, not my beat.” It’s not empty or anonymous, and that’s what I think people will want to hear, some level of mental activity between these two. With Sketch, he’s able to write something that is a means to confront someone for hip-hop supremacy, but he’s also good at writing story rhymes and to get a bit cinematic when trying to write about personal hopes and fears in metaphor, as he does in “Inspired By A Conversation Last Night”

it keeps pulling back everytime i’m at the cusp
the lights are messing with me, this whole room is such
I keep moving, daps are plenty and I tremble at the touch
these people keep talking, I wish I didn’t feel them
this music’s overwhelming I continue with my reeling
breathing, choking, as their smoking hits my heels and
with contact that could have your tims pushing off the ceiling
time to swim in this water bottle
in hopes to stop my mind from sifting, drifting in its hallows
piling on the misery to forget it all tomorrow
I need to wipe the maps of these directions that i’ve followed
fuck the stresses, its time to face it
and put the stones through this glass box attempt to break it
clutch the amplified and vocalize my cages
standing naked, with these walls of pressure buried in the pavement

It might come off a bit like Buck 65, but by saying that, it means that I do hear someone who is willing to push himself forward and not reply on whatever hip-hop templates may exist. In “Things That Start With H” (which is coincidentally the 8th song, appropriate since H is the 8th letter of the alphabet) Sketch is doing some damage over a beat with a slight rock/metal edge, but it feels more like Mike Shinoda than Fred Durst, and again, he sounds comfortable. I like it when an MC is not only willing to rhyme over anything and everything, but because of his listening habits and adaptation of it through hip-hop, he knows how to fill the pockets.

Then there’s Deto-22, who is a perfect match for Sketch. As a producer, I know what it means to get your word across and express yourself through music, what I hear is much more than just an assemblage of beats, basslines, and carefully selected samples, it’s all of that. What he does with Sketch is, if we are to use a comic boon analogy, pencils around the edges and fills in the colors to make Sketch’s colorful lyrics more vivid. Sketch is also a producer too, and then you’ll also hear Deto-22 drop some nice rhymes. I would have loved to have heard more old school-style rhymes where they would trade off lines, but people would’ve said “oh wow, another group trying to copy the Beastie Boys” but that style existed long before the Beastie Boys switched over from hardcore to hip-hop.

The EP ends with a Deto-22 instrumental in the form of “Welt In 12″, which would fit in with everyone from Lady Gaga to Black Eyed Peas, and that’s not something to laugh it, because if there’s a chance he can work and collaborate with other artists, he’s going to go for it. On the plus side, he’s good at it too. Sketch shows a respect for writing and comprehension, he’s an MC that isn’t just there to be the lyrical hi-hat for anyone, he’s the full drum set and he’s laying anchor. What they’re trying to day with The Sharing Is Caring EP is that yes, open yourself and share, be it talent, ideas, and concepts, musical or otherwise, you may find more about yourself than you did at the starting line.

Perhaps they’ll continue doing EP’s in small doses, or we’ll be patient and wait for a full length, but I also think they’re of a generation that doesn’t want to hold themselves back due to the conventions of what came before. I see them as adventurists, and I hope they proceed with anxiety and fearlessness.

(The Sharing Is Caring EP is scheduled for release on November 3rd, and will be available through LittleAx.com.)