2007 in Review: Influences

I'm sick with Microsoft Paint.

The issue of influence and music has always been a fascinating one to me. Some bands garner critical acclaim while flagrantly relying on their influences, while others get summarily dismissed for the exact same thing. Even in a genre, like hip-hop, built in part on the sounds of other genres, rappers and producers often try to underplay their influences in hopes of convincing everyone that they are the sole architects of their own sound. There's always a subtle tug-of-war between artists and their inspirations, especially as musicians try to find the right balance of imitation and innovation.

That's why it's so useful to look at MIA's second attempt at genre-mashing (her 2007 release, Kala) in juxtaposition to Vampire Weekend's as-yet-unofficial 2007 debut. Close scrutiny of the two artists and their dazzling albums reveals plenty about struggling for that balance.

Both MIA and Vampire Weekend have a strong DIY approach, but where MIA sounds unapologetically raw, VW sounds unusually polished. MIA's "singing" usually sounds more like chanting or 80's-style rapping. Her production usually sounds unmastered - as if Kala were a demo being passed around friends and not the second critically-acclaimed release from MIA. In contrast, I actually did receive Vampire Weekend's LP as a demo that was being passed around among friends. And one of my first responses was to remark about how well-produced it sounded, how neat it was.

This neatness in Vampire Weekend's album seems to be an attempt, intended or incidental, to separate their sound from the influence of Afrobeat. Afrobeat is the music of the jungle, of the lush Niger River delta. To paraphrase its pioneer, Fela Kuti, it is the music of suffering and smiling, the music of African joy and sorrow. The genre's rambling sax solos and perpetual, danceable grooves don't lend themselves to neatness nor does its predilection for fifteen-minute songs. So, the three-minute ditties that Vampire Weekend compose are their own distinct brew, albeit a creation distilling the headiest aspects of Afrobeat. However, in taking out all Afrobeat's grit, VW also removes a large part of its soul. And the plastic soul that remains is so stiff in comparison.

Sometimes, lead singer Ezra Koenig sings with a sideways smirk - as if he's aware that the band is playing a loose translation. And that's the problem: there is too much self-awareness in their music. Afrobeat requires a lack of inhibition and a sloppiness that comes from playing from the gut, or somewhere even more primal. In trying to hack out their own version of jungle music, VW took all of the method of African music and left behind the madness. They streamlined the music, cleaned it up. They westernized it.

MIA does just the opposite. She muddles her indie rock influences with music well outside of their Western context. The first words on Kala are a steady chant of the chorus of Jonathan Richman's "Roadrunner." To call it a reinterpretation would be an understatement. The lyrics are set against a fuzzed-out bhangra-cum-Baltimore-club loop that defies you to sit still. Though the Modern Lovers probably never intended to go here, their proto-punk aesthetic remains. It just has a more robust rhythm section. And MIA doesn't stop there. She snatches the distorted guitar and syncopated bassline on the opening of "Straight to Hell" from the Clash (no stranger to genre-mashing themselves) and fashions it into "Paper Planes," a droning Third World hustler;s anthem complete with jingling cash registers and gunshots. In doing so, MIA takes the Clash's political message and expounds on it. And then there's what she does with the chorus of the Pixies' "Where is my Mind?" MIA saves an especially grimy and indescribable electroclash soundtrack against which to interpolate the Pixies hit. Against bewildering sonic palette of "$20," the song's main question becomes particularly pertinent. Just where the hell is her mind?

MIA's influences (bhangra, soca, baile funk, hip-hop, indie rock, and didgeridoos) are hardly the most straightforward fare, but in every case she succeeds in incorporating them into her sound without deracinating them. In the middle of all her distortion, the soul of her influences is revealed just as clear as the original artist intended. Their intention is never lost because MIA's never self-conscious about revealing her influences. She's comfortable, the kind of comfort that comes from not singing with a smirk.


Downloads
Fela Kuti: Shuffering and Shmiling (from Shuffering and Shmiling/No Agreement)

Vampire Weekend: Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
Oxford Comma (both from their forthcoming debut)

MIA: Paper Planes
$20 (both from Kala)

2007 in Review: Flashing Lights

His Goyard's so hard, he's Hugo's boss.

Kanye's stated goal for Graduation was to make rap music for the masses - songs with "stadium status." Curiously, his conception of mass-appeal rap was a hip-hop/electro fusion. From "Stronger" (which repurposes a highly-popular Daft Punk track) to "Can't Tell Me Nothing" (which is very synth-heavy), electronic music leaves its fingerprints all over Graduation.

On "Flashing Lights," though, Kanye does what he does best. That is, he copies directly from a template. Where other producers snip obscure samples or chop up familiar song sections until they are barely recognizable, Kanye usually keeps his samples unscathed. Next time you are bored, play Curtis Mayfield's "Move on Up" and Kanye's "Touch the Sky" back-to-back. Few other producers are so brazen with their sampling. Naturally, he'd fall back into his familiar habits and just make a techno song somewhere on Graduation instead of a techno-influenced song. That techno song is "Flashing Lights" and it is awesome. The stuttering synths and driving beat are techno-by-numbers, but in the context of this rap song they regain some of their original power and grandeur.

Download:
Kanye West: Flashing Lights

PS - The Daft Punk & Can't Tell Me Nothing youtube links in this post are hilarious.

2007 in Review: Andre Benjamin

This is what the best rapper alive looks like.

On 2003's The Love Below, Andre 3000 used a combination of Prince-tinged pop, off-key singing, and free-association rap to position himself as a forbearer in a movement to change the sound of hip-hop. Anyone who had been listening to 'Dre on the Dungeon Family and OutKast albums preceding The Love Below's release could have anticipated this transformation (arguably, earlier attempted by Dungeon Family member Cee-Lo Green). However, to a wide swath of hip-hop fans, it seemed sudden and undeveloped and (rightly) few artists in his genre were quick to follow his lead. Indeed, those that did garnered precious little acclaim (I still blame The Love Below for ruining Mos Def's rap career). In the end, Andre 3K's last attempt to reinvent hip-hop isolated him as a lone figure chipping at the walls of a monolithic genre.

So, after the massive success of the album, Andre went into musical hibernation, shifting his focus to acting (eh) and cartooning (huh?). But, quietly in 2007, Three Stacks has reappeared with a series of off-kilter guest spots culminating in a new OutKast single, "The Art of Storytelling pt. 4." On each of these singles, the enigmatic Andre is no less ambitious than before - he still seems to intend to topple hip-hop, but now he works, like the mythical Trojan Horse, from within the empire's walls.



3000 in 2007:
Throw Some D's (remix):
On the only verse worth listening to, 'Dre proves that he can still threaten to do someone physical harm as well as any other multi-millionaire rapper.

Quotable: Sheep, count em for the rest of your life / Yeah, your partner got away, but now he's vegetable-like


You:
On Lloyd's first single, Andre tells a fairy-tale about a dewy-eyed loverboy (played by himself) unnerved by a fetching Whole Foods checkout girl. Awwww.

Quotable: We in the Whole Foods / And those fools aint supposed to beef / But you'd think they hated tofu


Walk It Out (remix):
On the remix to one of the smash-hit dance-rap singles of the year, 3000 plays the codger, wagging his finger at the kids for everything from their slang t0 their dress to their after-party habits

Quotable: Your white T, well to me, look like a nightgown / Make ya mama proud and take that thing two sizes down.


What A Job:
Andre, Snoop, and Devin the Dude wax lyrical about the joys and struggles of songcraft. Andre's verse is the standout, especially when he tries to explain exactly why he raps.

Quotable: ¡Exactamundo! / But we just keep recording / And it aint to get no condo / And candy Bentley, fanny with no panties in Miami / And that cute lil chick named Tammy that you took to the Grammys / See, we do it for that boy that graduated / That looked you in your eyes real tough and said 'preciate it


International Players' Anthem (video here):
Rap Song of the Year. The story goes that Andre was originally asked to appear on the song, but passed up on the offer. At the 11th hour, he asked if they still wanted him on the track. His final verse did not exactly match the beat, but it was so brilliant that UGK asked Three-6 Mafia to tweak the beginning so Andre could leave the verse unchanged.
Those Underground Kingz have a good ear. The entire verse is a treatise on what makes Andre reincarnate so wonderful. His verse stands totally apart from the rest on the song. There's no motor-mouthed pimp talk or jaundiced complaints about the ex-wife. Instead, he talks about new love with sentiment so assured that it could only be true love. Unless Dre was using a clever double-negative when he famously rhymed that his "heart does not go pitty-pat for no rat," a whole lot has changed.

Quotable: None. You should play this on repeat enough to memorize all the words.


Outkast ft. Marsha Ambrosius: Da Art of Storytelling Part 4
A new OutKast track emerged in November '07 and it was well-worth the wait. There are way too many clever turns of phrase and uses of imagery for me to analyze here. Big Boi and Andre are back - if they ever left.

Quotable: I started out starving / Now they got me Brett Favre-ing / Trying to see if I still got it

2007 in Review; 1234 Video

Just goes to show you that ingenuity beats money every time. The low-budget video for "1234" (not even my third-favorite song on The Reminder) has been one of my favorites all year.

2007 in Review: Kate Nash - "Foundations"

Look Ma, no legs...

The beguilingly upbeat handclap harmony does little to mask the bitterness in Ms. Nash's lyrics - an unwincing account of a highly dysfunctional relationship. Sad songs aren't supposed to make you snap your fingers.

Download:

Kate Nash - Foundations

2007 in Review: Commercial Southern Rap Tracks

Superman dat hoe!!!

As the music industry became less invested in artists and their work, commercial rap music, particularly, was supposed to suffer. Because of copyright laws and most of these rap musicians' reliance on other artists in the creative process, the fate of commercial rap was supposed to be intrinsically tied to the fate of the major-label system. That's why the proliferation of highly successful low-budget rap tracks has been so counterintuitive. As a rule, these tracks all tend to be terrible examples of technical rapping, but they are all catchy as fuck. However, their value as songs in the long run should pale in comparison to their value as a business model for success in the new musical landscape.

TRACKS:

Shop Boyz - Party Like a Rockstar (mp3 | video)

Soulja Boy - Crank Dat (video)

Hurricane Chris - A Bay Bay (video)

DJ Unk - Walk It Out (video)

2007 in Review: Let's Get This Paper

What would you expect this album to sound like?

I knew what to expect from Rich Boy's self-titled debut. Sure, it's no good to judge an album by its cover, but, with songs named "Touch That Ass," "Hustla Balla Gangsta Mack," and "Ghetto Rich," the tracklist was pretty damning also. Besides, the dude named himself fucking Rich Boy; it doesn't get more Southern Rap cliché than that. When I finally got around to listening to the album, I realized that I had been depriving myself of the most underrated album of 2007.

Almost the entire album is produced by Atlanta-based producer-of-the-moment Polow da Don, the genius behind Ciara's Promise. Polow's M.O is total bombast. Marching band drums, cinematic orchestras, and brass instruments (yes, the sousaphone has finally found its way into hip-hop) all make frequent appearances on his tracks. In fact, this album seems to exist as much to announce Polow's arrival as it does to showcase Rich Boy's slippery flow.

And flow, he does. Rich Boy raps in a distinctive drawl, indiscriminately melding and reforming consonants to pleasing effect. His serpentine style soothes the ear and takes the edge off of his lame come-ons and empty threats. There is no arguing that there is little in his content to edify the listener, but his songs have their instructive moments. None more than "Let's Get This Paper," the most perfectly realized track on the album.

Producer and rapper are perfectly aligned on the album closer. Against the background of Polow's celestial choir, Rich weaves a yarn of worldly ills. As Rich's description of black ghetto life gets increasingly bleak progressing from incarcerated 15 year-olds to bullshitting clergymen to a decidedly demonic version of the Lord's Prayer, Polow conducts his choir to greater and greater heights of ethereal beauty. This jarring dichotomy works to spectacular effect.



Download:
Rich Boy - Let's Get This Paper
Note: There is a bonus track at the end of this song where Rich Boy claims that "when [he] really makes it rain in the club, [he's] really just trying to reach his niggas that's in the sky." Ignorance is bliss.

2007 in Review: Duffle Bag Boy

I used to substitute "ninja" for "nigga" when I rhymed along to rap songs, but I quit doing that. At best, it's an illogical attempt at self-censorship; at worst, it's making a joke of a racial epithet. Either way, it's a stupid token gesture that loses any significance in light of the graver issues that America still faces with race relations.

Figure out how that applies to this song:

Playaz Circle ft. Lil Wayne - Duffle Bag Boy

2007 In Review: Jay Electronica

Tell me if you find this record anywhere...

The terribly-named Jay Electronica is a Southern rapper from New Orleans' notorious Third Ward, specifically the oft-rapped about Magnolia Projects. He makes the best kind of rap.

A little while ago, I was listening to Kanye West's Graduation and pretty much dancing like a madman. My friend Joel walked into the room, looked at me quizzically and simply said, "What is he talking about?"

I'm sure that question followed one of Kanye's endearing lyrical clunkers (Dear Kanye, "Apologying" is, in fact, not a word), but I tried to think of an appropriate response. I couldn't come up with one, so I probably said something dismissive and went back to bobbing my head (that's what she said). Daddy, they just wanna dance.

That's what a lot of these "conscious" underground rappers forget. In the middle of their dense (read: boring) diatribes and self-righteous bluster, they forget that they aren't making a pamphlet. They're making music. And the purpose of making music is for someone to hear it, right?

As Wesley Snipes so delicately put it in Mo Betta Blues (a Spike Lee Joint), "The people don't come because you grandiose motherfuckers don't play shit that they like. If you played the shit that they liked, then the people would come. Simple as that."

That's what Jay Electronica is fairly adept at doing. This grandiose motherfucker plays music that the people like. His music isn't burdened by his message. It's the opposite: his messages give him purpose and freedom. Unlike a lot of underground rappers, he doesn't try too hard, so he never comes off as sanctimonious or cloying. For instance, on "The Pledge," he raps over a mushy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind sample. The "beat" is essentially different string and piano loops interspersed with audio clips and it has absolutely no percussion. With most other non-mainstream rappers, this would be the perfect formula for saccharine or self-righteous boilerplate sap-rap. But, Mr. Electronica comes roaring onto the track rhyming athletically and brilliantly varying his cadences and emphases. And every time his voice appears, the brittle track acquires a new strength.

Jay Electronica raps that he "could care less 'bout a plaque and a Bid-enz / or getting Punk'd on TV by his Frid-ends," but, for his value as an example, I hope he gets that exposure. That's what she said.

Downloads:
StyleWars EP
The Pledge (link re-upped 7.10.08)

2007 in Review: What's A Girl To Do?

Thom Yorke made an iTunes playlist for the celebrity playlist thing that the iTunes music store has been doing this year. I read about it and (obviously) tried to download every song from his playlist. The playlist starts with a song from Bat From Lashes. I forget which one, but it was awesome so I tracked down their debut album, Fur & Gold - a very solid showing. See, I'm obsessed with three-song strings. The moments on some albums when the artist strings three songs together that are so great that I'm left feeling gobsmacked or, more accurately, knob-slobbed. Fur & Gold boasts one of the best trios in tracks 6, 7, and 8 ("The Wizard," "Prescilla," and "Bat's Mouth").
Bat for Lashes is, basically, the beautiful Natasha Khan. Her songs lie somewhere in the realm of Kate Bush, certainly displaying all of Ms. Bush's ambition and drama. Perhaps the best example of her dramatics is "What's A Girl to Do?" - a stoic, skeletal track with an ample chorus. Khan spends the song narrating a relationship where "that feeling's gone" before breaking up the deadpan storyline with a plaintive chorus. In doing so, she deftly illustrates the stupor and sorrow of a failed relationship. It's a masterpiece.
In my favorite music video of the year (no disrespect to International Player's Anthem), Dougal Wilson makes an exemplary visual for the song. I don't know who came up with the concept, but the references to Donnie Darko (the costumed stuntmen on the bikes for y'all who aint up on that Darko shit) do a cunning job of tying the alienation that Khan addresses on the song to the alienation that is the main theme of the Gyllenhalls' flick. Well done Dougal.


Album highlights:

What's A Girl To Do

Horse and I

The Wizard

Prescilla
Buy Fur & Gold here....or at your local trapper/jeweler superstore.

2007 in Review: Menomena - "Wet and Rusting"

Despite all the technological advances since the late 1940s, making a rock & roll album hasn't really changed much. The formula remains:

1. Geeks or egomaniacs or outcasts or artsy-fartsys get together.
2. Dream about being famous.
3. Decide to break their parents' hearts and stop taking their oboe/harp/bagpipe lessons, so they can learn to play guitar.
4. Form a band.
5. Jam endlessly until they get the right context for their words.

They record the finished article and release portable copies of their work for public consumption. It's a very time and labor-intensive process that can sometimes force ardor to replace art.

Then there's Menomena. Menomena are a 3-piece outfit from Portland, Oregon that makes their rock & roll in a really interesting way. The lead singer described the band as "too impatient to 'jam' for hours on end to perfect a song," so they developed their own approach to making rock songs. They use a sampling program that one of their members developed to record short musical phrases that they later layer and loop together to make a backing track. In essence, they put their music together like a puzzle, sifting through little pre-made pieces until they find some bits that complement each other. This approach makes for some beautifully fractured rhythms and allows their songs to have a weirdly modular quality. Skittish drums, ghostly guitars, and haunting piano notes pop in and out of songs not sounding entirely organic nor entirely sampled. When executed perfectly, like on "Wet and Rusting" (the clear standout of their 2007 release Friend and Foe), the music has an instant and lasting effect.

So, Menomena's proven you can take the endless jamming out of rock & roll and still make great songs, now someone work on bringing back the oboe...because we know that bagpipe rock's just silly.

Menomena - Wet and Rusting (Download Link | Music Video)

Announcement: 2007 in review

Yeah, that's Kim Jong-Il. No, it doesn't have to do with anything.

It's November 15th, y'all. So, from now until 2008, I'll put up a post a day commemorating some of my favorite songs, albums, videos, and themes from the year that was. Oh yum!!!

Song of the Day:

Roxy Music - Mother of Pearl

Sometimes, music isn't just great as the sum of its parts, but for slippery moments. The beat suddenly drops out or the harps come in for a second and suddenly I can't stop grinning. That said, I'm sure I would still love this song if the band didn't respond "Again?" when Bryan Ferry says, "I've been up all night." But, I'm really glad I don't have to test that theory.

Buy Roxy Music's Stranded