Watch the Throne - Jay-Z & Kanye West

Noteworthy

This effort by two of the biggest names in rap music today took the world of music by storm as suddenly as it was released. Although Jay-Z and Kanye West have had a rich history of collaborating since Jay-Z's groundbreaking Blueprint album, many thought these two artists' egos could barely fit into a cramped recording studio for longer than three minutes. But after months of speculation, there were rumblings in the music community last winter. This album finally had come together, and the two MCs were in the process of scrutinizing every piece of material.

Although it helps by having Kanye, imho one of the best producers of hip-hop in the game today, oversee a crops of engineers that includes The Neptunes, The RZA and Swizz Beats to create the musical backdrop behind the lyrics, there is only so much this can do to mask the fact that this whole album is not the masterpiece that it was thought to be. I will try to give you a little bit of dialogue that may help illustrate my point:

- Hey! There's something on your shirt.

- Do you think I'm going to fall for that?

- Seriously. You got something on your shirt.

- Really? ... Aw, fuck, dude. The nose thing? What are we, third graders? I should have seen that coming. Why did I fall for that?

- Because you're dumb as shit. I can get you every time.

Familiar? Like the gullible idiot I am, I blindly thought, "OK. If two prideful guys like Jay-Z and Kanye West are going through the trouble of putting out a collaborative album, they really have no choice but to take the attention of themselves individually and work together to put out some sincere and forthright music." What happens throughout, however, is a call and repeat of humble brags as the each rapper does his best to explain how talented, charismatic and influential he is while trying his best not to step on the other's Air Force Ones.

This is the irony that surrounds the whole album, even in the title. Watch the Throne implies a singular entity to which all others must respect: the best rapper alive. Singular. Why is this the best title for collaborative effort. The irony and lack of cohesion does not stop at the title.

In most of the songs, not much is novel and not much can be taken as truth. "New Day," a heartfelt song of emotional purging and morality directed to both rappers' unborn sons that is produced by the RZA, is the strongest song on the album by far. The song describes how both the rappers feel fame has lead to making multiple mistakes, but how those mistakes were made under the best intentions in forging a better life. However, the following track, the '80s throwback-inspired "There's My Bitch," Kanye makes a glorified dis to the conventions of monogamy, seems to automatically nullify what he said in the previous song.

Jay-Z's doesn't come out as a philosopher either. In "Murder to Excellence," Jay-Z relates the struggle of black life, but in earlier tracks, for example "No Church in the Wild," he still clings to the fact that dealing drugs is the best way for African American males to reach the apex of wealth and potential.

If there is any argument for profundity, it lies in the rappers' struggle to live with bestowed fame and maturity while yearning for a chance to return to a more independent anonymity without the curse of media attention.

But something struck me that caused me to question a lot of the messages presented in this work. The strange and omnipresent circus-like outro on many of the tracks seemed to play up that this was all a mirage. It is hard for the listener not to become distracted by this, as it plays on many of the albums more candid and mature tracks. It's almost as if it was put there to suggest this is only a canned sincerity, and everything that was said was merely an act.

That being said, the album's greatest strength is its superior musical value. Every song sounds dynamic and seems to fit in its own place perfectly. "Otis" is a great example of one of many melodic gambles that work in emulating a Motown sound. There are many who don't know who James Brown even is today. I'm going to guess fewer know who Otis Redding is. However, Jay-Z and Kanye are able to use the voices of these late R&B masters as unlikely samples to create one of the album's first singles. The songs can trigger easily identifiable emotions. "Lift Off" sounds like something out of an epic last boss battle of a video game, while "I Can't Stop" sounds like a new take on the electronic music that is continuing to nudge its way into modern pop music. Unfortunately, hip-hop in today's conventions still celebrates the lyricism of the MC first and any musical-production accomplishment as a secondary force.

This is in no way a bad album. For an anticipated album such as this, I only left expecting more. In terms of rapping, it sounds a lot like the stuff you've heard before and does nothing to advance the genre. Aside for a few tracks, most of the album's lyrics remain cliche and do not expand the catalogs of these established artists. Like many works from this era, the whole is not as good as its individual parts. However, the music alone makes it a great way to get pumped up for a night on the town or for a trip to the gym. Check it out and see what you think.

For Your Consideration: "Lift Off," "Otis," "New Day"

For Next Time: Tha Carter IV - Lil Wayne or I'm with You - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Let's Get Busy

Oh. Hey. Wut up. Haven't seen you for a while. I've wanted to get the blog going again, but, like I said a few times before, the world of music has become such a desolate wasteland that I can;t bring myself to write anything.

To bring you up to speed, I just graduated college, and nothing is more life-affirming than returning home after more-or-less four years of independence. I'm not blaming anybody — I pretty much counted on the fact that I would be making less than $10K my first year out of college regardless of Baracky Obs's economic management or mismanagement (whichever you prefer ... this isn't a political blog).

So in between crying over my journalism degree and smelling my finger, as you can see to your left, I've been bartending and following up on any leads for a real job. Musically, I've been catching up on the classics. Take a look at http://www.acclaimedmusic.net to see what I mean.

So, with little options elsewhere, I hope to find some fulfillment in writing by returning here.

Looking back, I thought about how I could make things easier and more enjoyable than just doing the standard album-rating format that you can get anywhere else. Surprisingly, an improvement has shown itself through a new limitation to how I hear new music. Now, I don't pretend to be a saint by using iTunes or supporting my local record store exclusively. In my point of view, if an artist has earned my respect, I will buy a new album unconditionally. But until that time, I'm going to find a way to hear material without incurring too much of a cost, which leads me to my dilemma.

I recently received an e-mail from the Comcast Corp. saying my family's account was being monitored for illegal downloading. I don't know if this is B.S. or what have you, but I must be careful as long as I'm at home. This may mean a slower writing turnaround as I need to find a way to listen to music somewhere online or to get some money to purchase a new album.

But here's the good news! There will be a much simpler ratings system. Money's tight everywhere, regardless of where, when or how you work. This means there's less money for frivolous and extravagant things like an iTunes shopping spree. Reviewers make their living by giving out gold stars (Rolling Stone) or belaboring over an elaborate ratings system (Pitchfork). But what does that all mean to you, the consumer? Hopefully I have an answer. Pay attention to the new ratings and compare to my old criteria:

Buy It - This album is great, and the artist has earned your $. This probably fits within the 5 to high-4 rating.

Noteworthy - This album is OK, but it's not spectacular or memorable. You probably want to check it out by getting a listen before you give over any hard-earned cash. Low 4 to 3 rating.

Cuts Only - Most of this album is pretty bad, but it may have a good single or two. 2 area.

Trash It - Need I say more? 1 to 0 rating.

In terms of writing style, I want reading this to be fun. In the past, I was trying to be overly clever. That kind of writing makes it more about how I can legitimize myself as a writer. In the end, it makes it less enjoyable for the reader. You probably skip over such garbage in the magazine or newspaper anyway. I now promise to give you the facts in a matter-of-fact way. For example, if a lyric needs to be mentioned, I'll mention it, but I'm not going to be Freud and dissect every little word. I want this to be legible and entertaining, not a thesis paper.

I hope to update this blog frequently and regularly in the future. Continue to follow me if you're interested.

For Next Time: Watch the Throne - Jay Z and Kanye West

Brothers - The Black Keys

In short, the album really succeeds or fails depending on your mood at the time you're listening to it. Guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach's musical style makes Brothers sound nostalgic-blues cool or somewhat insipid. Fuzz guitar and Mississippi-Delta-influenced lyrics may sound appealing, but they are presented in a way that makes the songs sound repetitive and sometimes really white. It's almost like Auerbach might be that dirty-looking artsy guy with the dreadlocks and the poncho you sit behind in English class that plays blues at the coffee house every Wednesday for open mic night. This guy (meaning the English student) isn't a real musician; he probably has a trust fund. Not to say The Black Keys isn't a real band, but some of their songs give the same feeling of being disingenuous. Sometimes, your inner Randy Jackson (American Idol reference really? I know; I suck, but it serves a purpose) will start plaguing your membrane with "Look, dude ... It was OK ... I just didn't feel it on that one, dog? Y'knowwhatI'msayin' man? You're better than that."

The songs that sound the best is when the band acknowledges that they are two white dudes from Akron, Ohio, and drop the whole Gospel-sounding 2nd-generation sharecropper facade. To clarify this more, there just isn't enough soul to channel someone like Muddy Waters or an old blues legend like Stevie Ray Vaughn or even Eric Clapton could do, which they didn't do to excess. The legends who based their careers on R&B and Soul (Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Ray Charles) can pull off saying "Oh, mercy me" whenever they feel like it and make me feel it too. The Black Keys can not. Seriously, the audience that eats this band up are the musically enlightened high school/college kids and the folks who listen to university radio. Songs like "Everlasting Light," "Tighten Up" and "The Only One" sound awesome in this regard (Side note: "Tighten Up" and "The Only One" are played in the same key, so they sound pretty similar).

What gets the Keys into trouble are the examples in their songwriting as I listed above. Listen to "She's Long Gone" to see what I mean. Part of the chorus lyrics is "She's long gone / Like Moses through the corn." What the f*ck is this I thought when I first listened to it. Are you from the f*cking '20s? I just didn't think it worked the first time I listened to it, and I still don't after listening to it a few more times. It's just delivered so blandly. "Unknown Brother" gives the same feel. The song is about a guy whose older brother died before he was born. Yet, it lacks soul. When it comes down to it, I couldn't give a sh*t about a dead baby: I jumped to the next song on the album. Well, that song, "Never Give You Up" wasn't too great either. Auerbach uses a falsetto voice on the song, which does makes the lyrics sound better. The problem this time is actually the music. It just sounds like a sub-par Motown number.

However, the whole album isn't just a few good songs mixed among the mediocre. The album has some decent filler. They're not as good as the songs I mentioned first, but they're not songs that will tempt you to hit that right-arrow button. "Ten Cent Pistol" succeeds because the song tells a great story about a impassioned girl killing her cheating boyfriend and the other woman he's sleeping with. "Sinister Kid" gives the listener one of the better tempos on the album, having drummer Patrick Carney shine. Even "These Days," the most repentant of these Gospel-esque songs, works because it is sung with feeling.

Perhaps that asshole, Jack White, may be the cause of what might be perceived as an unfair review for the Black Keys. But I think I'm being fair, despite my previous biases. This album has some good songs. However, I also felt like there were way too many songs I felt like I was forced to sit through for the purpose of the review. Because of this, I'll give this album a fair, but not exemplary grade. I would figure out which songs you want before you buy this album. It's your money.

F*ck Jack White and everything he does.

4/5
For Your Consideration: "Everlasting Light," Tighten Up," "The Only One"
For Next Time: TBA

Don't Call It a Comeback!

Sup snitches,

I have been away for a while. As you can see, I was kidnapped by Madonna for some reason. No, not really. This is from a facebook group I made about a year ago.

In reality, I had to stay away from this because it was a "conflict of interest" with my music reporting position in my college publication. After a rewarding, but weary, semester (20 hr. week on average, not including class and schoolwork), I decided to take the rest of the school year off. I wanted to come back, but with only Ke$ha being the biggest thing in the biz, it's been hard to write about anything. But, now that it's summer, there are a few albums coming out that have piqued my curiosity. Expect a Bieber-less review in the next few days.

Holla.

Announcement

Hey everybody. I'm not sure who reads this, but I have some bittersweet news. As it turns out, in the first piece of good luck I've had in years, The Daily Collegian has announced that I will be the Senior Music Reporter. This is a terrific opportunity for me. However, this blog will probably be the one that suffers the most neglect, followed by sleep and then by social life. As of today, I will be unable to update my blog until my tenure is over because it could be viewed as a conflict of interest. Even so, if you want me to review something, I will definitely take it under consideration as a story idea for the Collegian or something to come back to when I return. Thanks for reading, and I will be sure to return.

The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) - Black Eyed Peas

It's been a while. I would like to think my absence is purely due to work, but that would only be partially true. The other part has to do with reviewing this new album by The Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D. I planned on releasing the review a few weeks after the album dropped like with the newest U2 and Dave Matthews albums. However, I didn't have the time to listen to it all the way through until recently, or could even wrap my head it when I did.

So why have I been struggling for months trying to write this review? Well, I can't seem to tell if The Black Eyed Peas even a work of music or not. You mean like ... more than usual? Look, we can argue if Monkey Business had any aesthetic merit until the cows come home. Even so, I think this will put my frustration into words. When Billboard interviewed the band's leader, will.i.am, he said it would be breaking away from the concept of the album. He said to Billboard, "What is an album when you put 12 songs on iTunes and people can pick at it like scabs?" That is why this has been so hard. I mean, is there a point to me writing this? The way this album is constructed, all 14 songs are more or less the same song. They all are about five minutes in length. They all have some kind of moderately cool breakdown (listen to "Imma Be," in which the beat goes from the Kill Bill vol. 1 slow-mo-hallway scene to a jazzy breakdown sounding like A Tribe Called Quest Quest or Illmatic in a matter of seconds). They all have blatantly stupid lyrics, from which I will spare you from reading. They all have techno beats and Fergie singing auto-tune. The only difference is that some of these songs are better than others. How can this be? Just listen to "Boom Boom Pow" after you listen to "Alive." Yes, they are the same song. And yes, "Boom Boom Pow" sounds better for some reason. The parts of the formula above just come together for some songs better than others. The only exception to the rule is the harmonica-dominated "Generation Now," a welcomed change from the monotony of the rest of the album.

But will.i.am. gave us exactly what he promised. If this establishes a trend in the music industry, this will be the E.N.D. of the music album as we know it. We all know since iTunes burst onto the scene that there is very little need to download a whole album rather than just downloading the songs you want. Will.i.am. understands this. He understands that a song like "Ring-A-Ling" could have some appeal in small doses. However, if you listen to it on the album at track No. 8, it becomes so exasperating that you may want to throw your iPod out of the window of your car.

To sum this up, you cannot listen to The E.N.D. all the way through. Your ears will just not allow you to do so. Perhaps the individual parts are greater than the work taken as a whole, but the purpose of this blog is not to review singles. This is not an album; it's a paint by numbers kit ... and the picture doesn't match the one on the box.

1.5/5
For Your Consideration: "Boom Boom Pow," "Imma Be," "Generation Now"
For Next Time: TBA

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King - Dave Matthews Band

Remember the days when you and your high school buddies made the annual trip to the Campbells' Field parking lot for the Dave Matthews Band concert? Remember when in the middle of every pilgrimage you got so drunk that you threw up on the walk over to the Tweeter Center? Remember when you saw one of your friends get so drunk that he ran head first into one of those speaker poles, throw up on a couple on a blanket, and then fall down a flight of stairs? Remember when that made you feel a hell of a lot better about your drunken situation? But, do you remember any of the music that night? Probably not. In my experience with the Dave Matthews Band, it's never really been about the music. Instead, it's more about the sheer thrill of what the music represents: getting too drunk and getting away with it. I guess that's one of the reasons why Dave tried to create more diverse, heavier music. If anything, it will help the under-aged shake themselves out of their drunken stupor because they pause to ask themselves if they have stumbled to a Pearl Jam concert by accident.

The simple fact is that Big Whiskey is some of the heaviest stuff DMB has ever produced. One of the causes for this experimentation is the death of beloved saxophone player LeRoi Moore, who died in an ATV accident in June of last year during the pre-production of the album. Moore's sudden death deeply shook the band, who must now carry on without a friend and founding member of the group. Big Whiskey serves in part to pay tribute to this extraordinary musician whose presence was previously felt in nearly every song by DMB so far. In the title, the band immortalizes Moore's "Seussical" nickname, "GrooGrux King." Moore's ghost haunts the listener in the first track, "Grux," an instrumental saxophone solo, as well as in a hidden riff track on loop in "You & Me." For the rest of the album, Moore is replaced by Jeff Coffin. The band also added trumpet player Rashawn Ross and guitarist Tim Reynolds (a frequent collaborator with Matthews) to the its personnel. With the loss of Moore, the band needed to adapt to the strengths of the other musicians. In reality, Reynolds fills the void left by Moore with his electric guitar riffs.

The rest of the album acts as a departure from the conventional acoustic jams, mostly due to a greater influence from Tim Reynolds' expertise on guitar. "Shake Me Like a Monkey" does more than add to Dave Matthews' penchant to use the word "monkey" in his songs (wink wink Dave heads?). It's a refreshing change to the repertoire. Matthews shows the versatility of his voice in "Time Bomb," where critics more credible than myself have compared his voice to that of Eddie Vedder. Seems like an oxymoron, but I guess Dave Matthews can rock after all.

The two singles, "Funny the Way It Is," and "Why I Am," although flawed, have their moments. The music is friendly to the ears, but the lyrics seemed forced. "Funny the Way It Is" seems like it wasn't written by the band at all, but by the new lyricist team of Alanis Morisette and SNL's Debbie Downer. There's nothing like putting contrasting yet equally negative scenarios together to make me try and feel bad to make me laugh hysterically. "Funny the way it is, if you think about it / One kid walks 10 miles to school, another’s dropping out / Funny the way it is, not right or wrong / On a soldier’s last breath his baby’s being born." Wah wah ... Moving on. "Why I Am" also suffers from some uninspiring lyrics. This is the song that serves mostly as a direct tribute to Moore, but put together with a misplaced misanthropic commentary on human nature. In the song, humans are merely monkeys that came down from the trees to kill and enslave each other. The transition from denouncing humanity to eulogizing Moore is impossible to follow, so I'll spare you the lyrics.

But if you're looking for the DMB of old, there are plenty of tracks to meet your needs. In fact, one of the best tracks on the album is "You & Me," is a throwback to the pleasing acoustics you've come to know from Dave Matthews. Matthews sings in an inspiring serenade, "You and I, we're not tied to the ground / Not falling but rising like rolling around ... / Our arms wide as the sky / We gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the world," as Boyd Tinsley's violin strings accompany acoustic guitars. Unfortunately, there are the monotonous songs that fit the past motif. "Spaceman" is a song that just goes nowhere in the style of "Proudest Monkey." True fans of the band would probably enjoy it, but to everyone else, it is predictable and bland. If you're looking for something novel, try listening to "Alligator Pie," the album's banjo track. It's cooler than it sounds, trust me.

For it's faults, particularly in its lyrics, Big Whiskey remains a solid album worth your time. It will be interesting to hear which tracks Dave decides to play on tour and if the kids are going to notice. But this is a major departure for Dave, and you need to decide if you like it or if it's too different for you. So if you plan on going to the concert at the beautiful Camden Waterfront this year, don't get too drunk. You may miss something if you get shitfaced beyond all recognition.

3.5/5
For Your Consideration: "Shake Me Like a Monkey," "Alligator Pie," "You & Me"
For Next Time: The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas