G-Side, The ONE… COHESIVE

January 2011 // Slow Motion Soundz

(7 of 10)

In “I Come Prepared,” off 2009’s Troubadour, Somali-Canadian rapper K’naan declares, “my job is to write just what I see / So a visual stenographer is what I be.” That goal of conveying one’s reality isn’t often achieved (or even attempted) throughout rap, a status quo manifest in the success of the ubiquitous and superficial songs that dominate popular music today (for example, “No Hands” and “Like a G6,” by Waka Flocka and Far East Movement, respectively, both remain in the top 10 of the Billboard Rap chart more than 4 months after either debuted).

That idea of ‘visual stenography,’ though, is rife within The ONE… COHESIVE, the latest studio album from Huntsville, Alabama rap duo G-side, aka Yung Clova and ST 2 Lettaz. Indeed, the two don’t shy away from their drug- and poverty-riddled past, instead using it as a lens through which they frame their current lives. After they recall “cold nights / no food, no lights,” as on “Came Up,” the bold, defiant tone that permeates the album takes on a new significance. Nowhere is that tone more pronounced than on “Inner Circle,” in which Clova and ST rap over an intense beat built on eerie choral and orchestral samples about the frustrations and difficulties they’ve experienced as they claw their way to success, asserting: “Stop signs everywhere / but I got bad brakes, so I just accelerate / through the ups and downs.” Along with that outward defiance, though, comes an inward aspiration marked by its pragmatism. “Imagine,” the album’s closing track, ends by asking listeners, “Can you imagine success? / Can you imagine failure?” It’s a stark reminder that as G-Side aspire toward success, they remain firmly rooted in reality.

While much of The ONE shines, superficial moments are still found in the album. “Pictures” is a distinctly 21^st-century story about a sexual encounter (‘sexting’ and all), while “Never” achieves a dubious trifecta of sex, drugs, and self-aggrandizement: “I got that blunt smoke / comin’ up out my nostrils / big dick monster / and you can get a mouthful,” says featured rapper Mic Strange.

Perhaps, though, these disappointing moments fit into a larger theme of cohesion, oneness, and ultimately, taking the good with the bad. The ONE strives to act as the flagship record not only of G-Side’s discography but also of Huntsville’s rap scene. It features guest appearances from a great deal of local artists who combine in one collective tone along with exceptional production from regular G-Side collaborators and Huntsville locals Block Beattaz. While Clova and ST share their own realities and aspirations, past and present, they do so as representatives of Huntsville – flaws and all – and ultimately present the realities and aspirations of the city they know so well. You might even call them visual stenographers.

The ONE… COHESIVE is available for purchase – or free streaming – at G-Side’s bandcamp.

Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

November 2010 // Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam

(10 of 10)

As published in The Daily Gamecock.

Kanye West is a controversial man, to say the least. Over the last half-decade he has embedded himself into popular culture with incident after incident, making few friends along the way (just ask George W. Bush, Taylor Swift or even Matt Lauer). Running alongside his less-than-phenomenal public persona, however, is a music career that time and time again proves to be exceptional. If 2005’s “Late Registration” and 2007’s “Graduation” didn’t have you convinced, perhaps West’s latest effort, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” released Monday, will do the trick.

“Fantasy” is a deeply introspective journey of an album, as the rapper probes himself, seeking explanations for his flaws and solutions to his problems. Needless to say, after a tumultuous year, he has plenty of material.

Such is the nature of the opening track, “Dark Fantasy,” which features layered synths, keyboards and soaring backup vocals along with questions about superficial escape: “The plan was to drink until the pain was over / but what’s worse, the pain or the hangover?” he asks in his second verse.

Indeed, West seems overwhelmed by guilt and shame about his past. “Runaway” is a nine-minute-long apology that borders on self-abasement, in which West decides, over a staccato piano and heavy bass line, “I think it’s time for us to have a toast / let’s have a toast for the d——-bags.”

On “All of the Lights,” West takes a closer look at his past troubles as he and his star-studded supporting cast of no fewer than 11 featured artists sing and rap over a decidedly optimistic beat.

That tone is paralleled on “Gorgeous,” in which West declares with introspectively lo-fi vocals over a buzzing guitar riff: “This is more than just my road to redemption,” though he recognizes that there are “no more chances if you blow this.”

On “Power,” the album’s first single, he flaunts his penchant both for songwriting and for spot-on production, as he mixes lyrics that both acknowledge and play to his flaws with a fast-paced beat built on eerie backing vocals, strong bass hits and insistent clapping.

“Lost in the World,” the penultimate track, does much the same, masterfully sampling Bon Iver’s “Woods” while exploring the contradictions and paradoxes of West’s life and eschewing superficiality. The album then slips seamlessly into “Who Will Survive in America,” a remix of Gil Scott-Heron’s classic “Comment #1” that leaves listeners by repeatedly asking, “Who will survive in America?”

Ultimately, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is aptly named indeed. It represents a deeply introspective journey that mixes consistent beauty in production, pervading darkness in its lyrics and the occasional twisted moment (it is, after all, Kanye). Most of all, though, West has created an album that is truly fantastic and that certainly deserves a listen.

Kid CuDi, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

November 2010 // GOOD Music/Universal Motown

(5 of 10)

As published in The Daily Gamecock.

Seven months ago, when announcing the title of his latest album, “Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager,” Kid CuDi told readers of his blog that the new album “is dark by nature, and instead of bringing you into my dreams like my first album, im bringing you into my reality. good and bad [sic].” Certainly, “The Legend of Mr. Rager,” released Tuesday, is a personal affair, as defined both by Kid CuDi’s lyrics – encompassing the rapper’s relationship with his family, his personal life, his past cocaine addiction and his current drug use – and by production that is as dark and eerie as it is minimalist.

“Scott Mescudi vs. The World,” the album’s opener, introduces the listener to the rest of the album with mellow vocals, mysterious synths and a welcome to “the World I am ruling / … the wondrous / Clusterf*** of fun and enchantment.”

In “Don’t Play This Song,” which features vocalist Mary J. Blige, CuDi explores that world in more depth, as he finds “pain, hurt, sadness and loneliness” and transforms the song into a “bottomless pit” into which he throws emotions and memories he would rather forget.

Many of those memories are tied to CuDi’s family. In “Mojo So Dope,” rapping over a mellow Choir of Young Believers sample, he reveals tensions with his brother: “Wish I could tell my brother something for some motivation / And get him out that gutter / He’s leaving behind a family and a mother.”

Others, though, are more closely tied to the rapper himself. Singing again with Mary J. Blige in “These Worries,” CuDi acknowledges the worries that burden him: “These worries are heavy, they rest on my shoulders / My pride, it won’t let me / Fall victim no more.”

On a similar note, “Erase Me,” the album’s first single, discusses themes of heartbreak and unrequited love, though it does so over a made-for-radio, pop-rock beat that sounds out of place in the context of the rest of the album.

For all these brooding and dark thoughts, Kid CuDi finds solace in drugs, as nearly every track on the album references them in some form. “REVOFEV” advocates the legalization of marijuana and its use as an escape (“Let go, life does get tough / No need to stress / … Let’s go, I heard they found a solution”). The surreal “Marijuana” is basically a stoner love song, painting a detailed picture of Cudi’s dependence on marijuana: “Pretty green bud all in my blood / Oh I need it.”

Overall, “Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager” is a mixed bag. At times – when it delves into the darkness and emotions within Kid CuDi’s mind – the album soars to excellence. Far too often, however, it comes off as little more than a stoner album, and when it does, it sinks to a corresponding level of stoned mediocrity.

Matt & Kim, Sidewalks

November 2010 // Fader

(6 of 10)

As published in The Daily Gamecock.

Matt & Kim, a Brooklyn-based duo whose latest full-length album, “Sidewalks,” is on sale now, sell a particular brand of pop-and-dance punk. The duo’s music is the musical equivalent of skipping down the street chewing bubble gum with a huge smile. It’s fun, engaging and marked by a pervading sense of innocence and optimism.

The opener, “Block After Block,” sets the stage for the rest of the album with a catchy earworm of a beat and stretches of high energy interspersed with mellow lulls that ultimately build to a frenetic ending. Similarly, despite its relatively slow tempo, “Good for Great” uses buzzing, glitchy synth loops and a mix of soaring and staccato keyboards to build a fun, upbeat melody. The song also includes the duo’s classically innocent lyrics, ending with an engaging sing-along of “We sing along, but the notes are wrong.”

Indeed, that sense of childlike innocence is a common theme throughout the album, reflected both by lyrics and instrumentation. On “Red Paint,” youthful lyrics like “Let’s make life so big / make sure it can’t be missed” and “Let’s make some stains … / Let’s make a mark” are mixed with a backing loop of retro video game sounds. Following suit, “Wires” makes heavy use of soaring, loud vocals in the chorus and the light chimes of a child’s keyboard toy throughout. The album’s first single, “Cameras,” does much the same, proclaiming the duo’s love of living in the moment, as they have “no time for cameras / we’ll use our eyes instead.”

For all their youthfulness, Matt & Kim do wander into reminiscences and brooding in the latter half of the album. “Silver Tiles” harkens back to their younger years with rock ‘n’ roll drums and guitars and memories of “all our hopes / and all our friends / through parking lots” and “this ‘B’ I got in school.” The album’s most somber number, “Northeast,” acts as a love song for their region though it recognizes its flaws (“It’s like New York in the late summer time / can breathe again / and your bones feel alive”) before closing with a section of upbeat instrumentals.

The closing track, “Ice Melts,” is a shift from that reminiscence and brooding, featuring a cheery mix of synthesized horns, sleigh bells and lyrics that declare “ice melts / all around me,” an optimistic reminder that winter melts into spring.

All in all, “Sidewalks” is a fun, danceable album, typical of Matt & Kim’s past releases, “Grand” (2009) and “Matt & Kim” (2006). The duo has a knack for creating catchy hooks and unmistakable earworms, a talent they continue to show off with this latest release. Fans of last year’s “Grand” will certainly enjoy this latest effort, though they shouldn’t expect much in terms of artistic growth, as the album at times sounds formulaic and derivative. Although listeners will enjoy a few worthwhile songs, the album as a whole ultimately falls short of excellence.

Sufjan Stevens, The Age of Adz

October 2010 // Asthmatic Kitty

(8 of 10)

As published in The Daily Gamecock.

After five years without a full-length album, Sufjan Stevens is back. “The Age of Adz” (pronounced “odds”), released today, is his follow-up to 2005’s critically acclaimed “Illinois”. The album is marked by change – no more are the banjos, flutes and pianos that dominated Stevens’s past work; in their place are synthesizers, Auto-Tune and drum machines.

Perhaps more significantly, rather than focusing on broader subjects in society (encompassing, in the past, everything from religion to the Midwest), “The Age of Adz” finds its inspiration in the individual and explores themes of love, regret and mortality.

Fittingly, the album’s title alludes to Royal Robertson, a Louisianan outsider artist and self-proclaimed prophet who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Much of Robertson’s work, which includes the album artwork, surrounds his reactions to being left by his wife. Stevens uses Robertson’s story as a jumping-off point, from which he delves into stories of his own.

The album opens with the ethereal “Futile Devices,” a track full of airy notes and soft vocals reminiscent of Stevens’ past albums. “Too Much” draws a striking sonic contrast, building a collage of highly synthesized and somewhat discordant beats – a patchwork that seemingly reflects Stevens’ thought process as it evolves throughout the song.

Following suit, the title track “Age of Adz” explodes onto the scene with layers of orchestral instrumentals, heavy beats and a decidedly heartbroken and morbid – yet resolute – Stevens (“When I die, I’ll rot / but when I live, I’ll give it all I’ve got”). That sense of resolution continues in the album’s standout track “I Want to Be Well,” in which Stevens boldly declares “I’m not f—-ing around,” as he takes listeners on a ride of striking intensity interspersed with gentle lulls.

Despite all the change to his overall sound, Stevens is true to his roots in “The Age of Adz.” The vocals and backing chorus on “Now That I’m Older” are hauntingly beautiful, reminiscent of “Seven Swans’” title track, and “All for Myself” stands right alongside “Illinois’” “The Black Hawk War” in terms of instrumentation. In a style pulled straight from the playbook of his state albums, “Vesuvius” uncovers parallels between a historical event and Stevens himself, as he probes the “murdering ghost / that you cannot ignore” that he finds within himself.

Stevens also falls victim to his penchant for going long, as “Impossible Soul,” the album’s closing track, clocks in at an impressive 25 minutes. It becomes something of a rambling and lyrically dense track, and covers a massive amount of ground sonically, including everything from jamming synthesizers to Auto-Tuned vocals to pensive acoustic guitars.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for more of the 50-state-traveling Sufjan Stevens that rocked the indie world five years ago, “The Age of Adz” may well leave you disappointed. While the slate of instruments has changed, Steven’s top-notch songwriting skills have not. “The Age of Adz” offers listeners an engaging, deeply personal and masterfully executed journey of an album.