This Is Book's Music

Icon The Mic King is someone who I’ve been following for a long time, and now as he simplifies his name to be the appropriate Mic King (his real name is Michael King, so maybe this was meant to be). With slight moniker modification, it definitely does not signify simplicity in his writing, style, and execution of his rhymes. He teams up with producer Chum (known to some as The Skrilla Guerilla) for a great album called Flavor Ade, and this is an example of someone who is showing how confident he is in his own shoes.

Some rappers will choose to rap two ways: have a cocky attitude that is meant to represent fake gangsterism, and then a mock romantic attitude that is nothing more than a lure to bring ladies into their realm. Maybe it’s a facade that some people enjoy, but Mic King plays a different role in “Gimme Some Sugar”, or at least, his swagger here is mixed in with a bit of humor that isn’t often heard in other rappers who talk the talk, but little else is happening. “I’m The Best Mayne” has him trying to talk about his chain dangling in a Lil’ Wayne manner, but the singer (a self-proclaimed “Robot Boy”) that does his thing with Auto-Tune sounds like what would happen if you got someone who was not only off-key, but off-tempo, and turned him into a star. It could be parody or mockery, but it works, with the power of Greyskull.

Throughout the album, Mic King and Chum go from modern hip-hop tomfoolery to early 90′s new jack celebration, to exploring some of the more appreciated hip-hop sounds of the last decade. This makes sense since that’s what he was raised on, but then get into the album’s last track, “Kind Of Woman”. He does a few lines and verses in double time, and it’s as if he knows he can do other styles with his eyes closed, and this is on the next level shit. Not only that, but his speedy delivery here not only sounds good, but he’s making sense, it’s not the hip-hop equivalent of Al Jarreau or Bobby McFerrin where all he’s doing is saying “I got the business, doopidi doopii, doo, dearrwww dearrwww.” Mic King is a no-bullshit rapper who isn’t afraid to shine the spotlight on the bullshit in the music, as if to say “this is what you’re loving, I got something a lot more satisfying.” With Elzhi of Slum Village helping out in the string-ridden “Wordperfect”, and Slug of Atmosphere dropping an inspiring verse in “Snake Oil”, Mic King shows he is nothing more than a missionary on a mission who is in a position to go deep, while looking at you directly in the eye. He’s not a doggie style rapper, and Chum is not a doggie style producer, his samples and basslines are appropriate, the transitions in “Wordperfect” are award-worthy and I hope he gets recognized for that alone.

Curse Ov Dialect could mean “cursive dialect” or “curse of dialect”. If it’s the former, one can say that their ways of speaking has a lot more character and flow than whatever a “standard dialect” may be. If it’s the latter, maybe it suggests that if you are a fan of hip-hop but do not sound like what hip-hop is meant to sound like, which is that of an African-American, it may be difficult to impossible to break through. Fortunately, Curse Ov Dialect have been doing this for awhile and rather than try to conquer, they deliberately go out of their way to go their own way.

Crisis Tales (Staubgold) is the follow up to their great album, and as before, the production and sample manipulation is part of their appeal, because they’re twisting things up that I wish others would make their own. Lyrically and vocally, they are proud to be Australian and show this by rapping with a specific accent in mind. To my ears, some of the tracks sound like old Hollywood, old cartoon, or old vaudevillian voices where it’s bigger, bolder, and louder than life, as if they are used car salesman, latex loving farmers, or puppy professors. That in itself may cause people to want to turn this off, because it’s not in a “standard hip-hop dialect”. It’s also not an Australian hip-hop dialect either, or at least not a specific one, because throughout Australia (and New Zealand) you have rappers who have one voice and keep it that way. Curse Ov Dialect will rap under four voices or more. But give this a chance and a serious listen, because tracks like “Honesty In Monasteries”, “85 Percent”, and “Media Moguls” are some of the more interesting hip-hop songs you will have heard in some time, of any style, of any territory or country.

You hear voices that are rushing into the mix, and to have that backed by equally manic instrumentals? It is a hyperactive listen that you’ll either find incredible or blasphemy, but hip-hop at its best is about being blasphemous. Put down your rosaries.

|

The J. Davis Trio offer their brand of Chicago hip-hop with a bit of jazz and funk, with their formula being an MC rhyming with the assistance of three musicians. These Things Happen (Yo Yo Smuggler) has a similar feel of hip-hop albums from the early 90′s, somewhat dark and grimy (and that’s more to method of recording and production) but not dull. Julio Davis is the MC and to me sounds like a mixture of Gift Of Gab and a more laid back Shock G.. It’s the kind of hip-hop you might expect at a coffee shop or intimate club, and you can hear how these guys may interact with each other in a live setting. A track like “Do You Mind if We Dance Wif You Dates?” (the title inspired from a line in the film Animal House has a creepy gangsta vibe that one could see in a Cypress Hill track if they brought Q-Tip or Common in the mix.

With real instrumentation, one might expect the obvious comparisons to The Roots, but I hear the J. Davis Trio as a band who sound as if they came before and after The Roots, as if they never crossed paths. That’s a good thing, because a lot of times, you have hip-hop bands who try bring in instruments and they either sound like copycats or a coffee left in the pot for a day or two. These guys aren’t weak, and could easily rank themselves alongside Brand New Heavies, Breakestra, and Crown City Rockers.

The dark and grimy feel also makes some of the tracks sound like demos, I would have preferred a more lively mix with a bit of brightness. At a time when every other person in music tries to use some kind of effect for their voice so that the special effect overshadows everything, you’re pretty much hearing Davis’ voice with minimal treatment, or at least “there’s absolutely no Auto-Tune.” These Things Happen may be nothing more than low-brow casualness, but it’s a way for them to also say “we have the goods, and we can prove it. Listen.” As you should.

(These Things Happen was originally released in 2007, but is being re-released on December 9, 2009. However, you can still purchase it through CDBaby by clicking on the appropriate icons below.)

|

Tama Sumo is not a Japanese/German wunderkind, but rather a DJ/tastemaker who knows how to find the right music for the right time, place, and opportunity. His opportunistic ways are explored on a compilation called Panorama Bar 02 (Ostgun Ton), and the songs featured here are a mere hint of what it would be like to be in the middle of a Tama Sumo vibe.

He knows what he’s doing by combining songs like Steffi‘s “24 Hours”, John Daly‘s “Birds”, Basic Soul Unit‘s “Things Pass”, and Ost & Kjex‘s “Continental Lover” across this 21-track mix, and while I would have loved to have heard more, the reason behind this is to discover and have a desire to get more into the Tama Sumo experience, because listening to this is an experience. The CD has a number of unreleased tracks and exclusives, so you’ll want to get this for that alone.

With a name like Schlachthofbronx, I was not sure what to expect, but their self-titled album (Disko B) shows a love for hard pierced electronica and a love of reggae and dancehall, with the infamous “reggae horn” on the album cover. It’s a German perspective of worldwide musics, and if you’re someone who wants to have their music drive into your heart or skull at a wicked pace, this is for you.

Some of the special guests on this include Slush Puppy Kids, Doubla J, Ete Kelly, and Mic Mo, all of whom are ready to drop anything in order to get the party jumping, and I say this because this is very much a music you want to hear loud, in a club or venue setting with people around you. It’s not a solitary music that’s meant to be confined, although it sounds incredible in that fashion too. Yet with that said, I’d like to see Schlachthofbronx do a few remixes, or collaborate with artists people may not expect to hear with this style of music.

|

The word that stood out in the album credits was ‘ukulele. I get overprotective, I become a representative and ambassador of a Hawaiian musical instrument that has been ridiculed for the foolishness Hollywood turned it into. In the last few years, there have been musicians who have taken to the ‘ukulele and rather than keep it in its novelty status, they will learn about it, play it, and incorporated into their music, often times making it a progressive extension of its original intention. Cuddle Magic are a band that merge diverse pop and rock with slight folk touches, and that comes with the use of not only the ‘ukulele (as played by vocalist Ben Davis), but the banjo, clarinet, vibraphone, cello, and other types of unique percussion and stringed instruments.

Picture (FYO) could be 2010′s most fascinating pop album of the year, but chances are this will not even be mentioned with celebrity pop albums, and I don’t mean actors or actresses, but pop is generally celebrated one way, and anyone doing something different has to be tagged “other than”. It’s indie pop, alternative pop, but it’s still very much pop. In fact, I could see Shakira singing in “Expectations”, but I don’t particularly want to hear her frog voice in a song so simply, sweet, and innocent as this. The songs are about life, interaction, relationships, and more, but they are quite poetic without sounding like they’re solely meant to be heard at a poetry slam. It’s well written music of the Todd Rundgren/Smashing Pumpkins/Pink Floyd variety, in fact think of Pink Floyd’s more quieter moments (“Wots…Uh The Deal”, “Fearless”, “If”) and you’ll start to hear more of Cuddle Magic’s… well, magic, but their folk influences come clear in their own quieter moments. I can see this band going very far with what they do, I am sure fans will be willing to join them for the the ride.

(Picture will be fully developed on February 9, 2010.)

General Electriks is the brainchild of French musician Hervé Salters, who some may know for his work with Blackalicious on The Craft or being 1/3 of the group Honeycut. It’s been four years since General Elektriks released a debut album, but after hearing Good City For Dreamers (Quannum), you’ll realize it was worth the wait.

Salters is someone who will no doubt be called a one-man genius, but he loves to play a wide range of instruments and get himself locked to play it all himself. What you hear is not just some lo-fi independent funk, but there’s soul, pop, and just an independent spirit that you never heard from someone like Remy Shand, or at least something closer to Shuggie Otis. In fact, listening to this and it sounds like a long lost album that very few people know of, but you get a shit-eating grin everytime you share it with people, who will say “what the falakian is this ship, and how come this has never entered my harbor?” It’s a diverse collage that Salters stews up to create that musical soup you know will provide nourishment for days, weeks, even years to come. It makes perfect sense for him to be a part of the Quannum family, because those guys have always been about unearthing the soothingly obscure. For now allow Salters to remain just under the service, but tap into Good City For Dreamers and understand why good music like this can only stay under for so long.

|