Phrenology – The Roots
The perennial “saviors of hip hop,” the Roots, drop their best and most varied effort to date. Following a great deal of hype and anticipation after the release of their Grammy winning album, “Things Fall Apart,” we find the Roots continuing to push the boundaries of what exactly makes a Roots album.
On the Okay Player Web site, drummer ?uestlove said before starting the album that the crew basically set out a list of things the Roots had not yet done on an album and tried their best to follow. It shows.
Even without the Pink Floyd-ish prologue to the excellent song “Water” or the minute long soirCB)e into hardcore punk “!!!!!!!” this album would be worthy of praise for its consistency and depth, but these unlikely tangents just further testify to the level of ambition the band strives toward.
And while, artistically, the Roots have always created surprising musical landscapes (much to the delight of those not initiated into the world of hip hop), the group manages to maintain a credible aesthetic that is sure to please hardcore hip hop fans as much as any other group.
All intellectual analysis aside, however, this is a very satisfying album in many respects. Even after the departure of studio emcee Malik B., the lyrics sound as strong as ever and while a major Rhazel track would have been interesting, the album doesn’t seem any less for the absence.
Even the Roots’ characteristic disc-ending spoken word piece shines as Amiri Baraka brings a notably different vibe to that of usual Roots’ resident poet Ursula Rucker.
Other guest spots include Nelly Furtado (brief), Jill Scott and soul newcomer Cody ChesnuTT, who helps prove that, while it is in fact difficult, it’s not wholly impossible to fuse rock and rap with good results in these days of artistic laziness.
In the long run, this album may not change minds or alter consciousness, but as its name implies, it will make heads bump. – Trevor Williams
Quality – Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli, as part of a new generation of emcees who are a healthy alternative to the more bankable sound of East Coast rappers like Nas, Jay-Z and others is perpetually pulled in many directions by the expectations of a varied fan base.
On the one hand you have the fans that make no real distinction between a Nas and a Talib except that one is making less money because he’s talking about different subject matter.
But on the other hand you have the hardcore dogmatism of so-called backpackers who apply an invisible moral code of “not selling out” to artists who never really pretended to be “conscious” or “responsible” rappers.
So when you get Kweli working with someone like DJ Quik, you are bound to have turmoil among your supporters. Thankfully, Talib Kweli never really sacrifices his standard of quality music for the more bankable standard of marketing. So, backpackers, just back off. We all sell out at sometime in life.
Politics notwithstanding, this album really suffers from the mercenary production style that has got such a hold on the way hip hop is created.
When one applies so many disparate artistic influences to an album, it never really reaches any sort of feeling of unity and ends up feeling more like a collection of singles than a singular vision. Granted, while there are some singles on this LP, it just doesn’t measure up to his last effort, Reflection Eternal which was produced almost entirely by Hi-Tek.
But let’s all look on the bright side of this not-so-great-as-it-should-be album by seeing that it just stands as one more obstacle out of the way of us and another Blackstar album. – Trevor Williams
Mary Star of the Sea – Zwan
After the Smashing Pumpkins broke up in 2000, with more than 22 million albums sold, there was a void in the world of alternative rock music.
Now a mere three years later, Billy Corgan returns with a new band, Zwan. The band has a different style from that of the Pumpkins. This time around there are three guitarists, Corgan, Matt Sweeney (from the band Skunk) and David Pajo. Keeping rhythm is Smashing Pumpkins’ drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and bassist Pas Lenchantin (formerly of A Perfect Circle). The end result is a band that is described by Corgan as Arena Folk Rock.
The most obvious difference between Zwan and Smashing Pumpkins lies surprisingly within Billy Corgan himself. He has grown up as a songwriter and as a singer, singing about life, love and happiness. It’s a big change from fans that are accustomed to hearing Billy scream, “Despite all my rage, I’m still just a rat in a cage.”
His very distinct nasal vocals are still present, but are somehow more beautiful and smoother than even his best work on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Zwan’s first single “Honestly” is a good example of Corgan’s new direction.
With lyrics like “I believe you mean the best that life can bring, I believe in it all, honestly”, he opens his heart in a way that wasn’t expressed with the Smashing Pumpkins. Fans of the former band that pick up MSOTS will be surprised at the directions of Zwan, but pleasantly pleased at the end result.
On the two-part cut, “Jesus, I / Mary Star of the Sea” an old hymnal song (“Jesus, I”) is reworked on the first part of the track into a powerful rock song, followed by an extended instrumental jam before coming to a close with Mary’s wild, yet cohesive three part guitars bringing the album into a frenzied close.
After the 14 minutes of terrific chaos ends, all that is left is “Come With Me,” a folky love song that provides the perfect conclusion to a much anticipated album that doesn’t disappoint – Nicholaus Biela
