Sool
[BPitch Control; 2008]
Pitchfork gave it an 8.0.
I put this on and then did something else and kind of forgot it was on.
So mission accomplished, I guess.
Various Artists
Street Sounds Electro: The Ultimate Boxed Set
[Street Sounds; 2008]
Pitchfork gave it a 7.2.
Are you a DJ? If no, skip to next review. If yes, continue to the next paragraph.
There's a 22-volume collection of old school rap and early electro music that, as far as I can tell, is no longer available anywhere except on a blog called "Def Momentum." Congratulations on your awesome life, by the way.
Apes
Ghost Games
[Gypsy Eyes; 2008]
Pitchfork gave it a 6.2.
This reminds me of some minor-league hard rock band from the 70's. The kind of thing you think you might want to like but then you listen to it and you don't like it enough. Slade, maybe. This is Slade.
Buckshot
The Formula
[Duck Down; 2008]
Pitchfork gave it a 5.7.
When I was in Spanish 1 in my freshman year of high school circa spring of 1994 there were two dudes who sat next to me who used to argue all class long about whether Buckshot was better than Nas. Actually, one dude said Buckshot was better than Nas, and the other dude was like "Buckshot ain't better than Nas." And then the Buckshot guy would be like "argument argument argument" and the other dude was like "Buckshot AIN'T better than NAS." And it went on, the same thing over and over and over again with only slight variances in emphasis in the phrase "Buckshot ain't better than Nas" for a whole semester. To the point where if I ever hear about either Buckshot or Nas doing anything, I think to myself "Buckshot ain't better than Nas" by rote, as if programmed by the Manchurian Candidate people.
At one point when the "Buckshot ain't better than Nas" guy was particularly exasperated, he turned to me and asked "is Buckshot better than Nas?" And even though I hadn't and still haven't heard anything by Buckshot or Black Moon, I said "Buckshot ain't better than Nas." And he said "THANK YOU" and turned to his friend with a shrug as if to say "see, even this nerdy white boy agrees."
So now I get a chance to investigate. Black Moon's Enta Da Stage is a classic. Nas's Illmatic is a classic. Ok. How about this tidbit from Vincent Thomas's review of Enta Da Stage on allmusic:
"Buckshot said he, Evil Dee, and the 5Ft Accelerator recorded half of the album -- the "Who Got da Props" half -- in 1992 before he went on tour with Kool G Rap and a young Nasty Nas. During a freestyle cipher, listening to Nas and Kool G Rap led Buckshot to an epiphany that motivated him to switch up his rhyme-style, and da Beatminerz tweaked their production to complement."
Ok, so Buckshot heard Nas do a freestyle and then changed everything he did.
Score one big victory for the Buckshot ain't better than Nas guy.
Anyway, this is alright, I guess. It's not better than Nas. Even 2008 Nas.
Witch
Paralyzed
[Tee Pee; 2008]
Pitchfork gave it a 4.9.
So this is a perhaps semi-goof stoner sludge rock band from now with J. Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. on the drums. What's the deal with all of these? Is it the California weed laws?
Anyhow, I like this more than I like Apes. Tongue in cheek or not, the goal here is to rock first and say things second. Sure it's not the best, but that's the proper ordering of priorities for a rock band.
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