Ugh to snow and citizenship tests, little-man-flu, food poisoning and Croydon (sorry – tis true). All these things add up to a new once-a-month-a-write policy on Suburban Husswife; I just can’t hack it otherwise.
I did have a thought though: why don’t you guys contribute too? I think it would be so much better if we shared our thoughts on new music. Because honestly, don’t you just get sick of listening to me go on and on all the time? You know you’ve always wanted to write for Rolling Stone. As middle-age is where dreams apply the principle of fight-or-flight, let it be the former. And no, I’m not delusional – I know this isn’t Rolling Stone. But hey, they haven’t called me yet, you?
Blakroc – Blakroc
I’m late on this one as it had been sitting in my lounge over Christmas while I galavanted around the east coast. Upon first listen, I was like, oh come on. Why is Rough Trade sending me this? It’s laughable when 30-somethings in pant suits (not really) listen to hip-hop; it doesn’t even really work when you do it to be ironic. I couldn’t see why they would subject me to this unless they were just trying to prove a point (which I think they may have been, actually, on some level. I mean isn’t Rough Trade always trying to prove how cool they are? Someone back me up here).
So I did what I always do – I procrastinated. I went a-researching. And no, I didn’t know they were a supergroup until I did so and I kind of wish I’d skipped this nugget of knowledge because then maybe I would have loved the album just because it was a great album and not because of the eclectic line-up. But as it stands, research I did and it enhanced my experience of the music.
Here’s the thing, I really didn’t like the music the first time I listened to it. I couldn’t for the life of me find what was so cutting-edge about it. It’s got an old-school flavour to it but nothing so extraordinary that you stop what you’re doing to dance in the street (I did honestly have that reaction to Jurassic 5’s Quality Control while waiting for a bus on the Upper East Side). And though some of the blues riffs underneath made me take notice, I was a bit unimpressed by the general rhyming – it seemed a bit obvious really. So I dug around online and lo and behold, my mind was veritably changed.
So first off, Black Keys, which I haven’t really explored much before, are this bluesy Americana band with some real grit to them. They end up on the ipod (guessing) of Damon Dash, producer/founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and he’s like, these guys are awesome. Some fortuitous timing means the project starts recording off the back of this love affair and somehow gets Mos Def alongside “Raekwon, RZA and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan, Jim Jones and NOE of ByrdGang… singer Nicole Wray, Pharoahe Monch, Ludacris, Billy Danze of M.O.P., and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest[2].” (Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blakroc) to record bits and bobs for it over the course of 11 short recording days. And I have to say, considering how many cooks they had on this, it ended up a pretty cohesive and interesting project. The blues temper the overall effect of having so many male hip hop divas recording together, saving it from sounding like something P-Diddy would have put together. And there are some lovely, chewy rhythms, especially “Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochi Coo)” and “Hope You’re Happy” with the very good Nicole Wray.
Saying that, I don’t really like it. I’m not really much for hip-hop and I struggle with anything that isn’t really really accessible in that arena. This is close but still not my cup of tea. But on artistic merit and creativity, I give it a 3 1/2. ***1/2
Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here
Accidentally, this has suddenly become hip hop week. So I’m embarrassed to say that while I was busy not listening to Blakroc, I was also busy being totally ignorant of Gil Scott-Heron. He’s one of those names that I keep filed in the back of my mind just in case he comes up at a dinner party (people who consider themselves writers/poets often talk about good ol’ Gil though I question how many people have ever really listened to his stuff).
He’s a true poet, real spoken word action and very very cool. He came up during the volatile 70’s, a prodigy really, and was a huge force behind the conception of hip hop, teaming up with Brian Jackson to pioneer that inimitable hip hop sound. This before falling prey to drugs and alcohol, spiralling into addiction and ultimately prison. Obviously this is only a very brief and simplistic account, but the up-shot is that he’s walked a hard road.
The new album shows glimpses of his hardships over the past few decades but has a real tone of optimism and wisdom in it. His gravel-paved voice spilling over Massive-Attack styled beats and samples brings to mind not the sound, but the quality of Johnny Cash’s music. Something happens to music written by older, weathered persons; it’s a tapestry covered in tiny intricate stitches.
Once again, I don’t love this music, with the exception of “New York is Killing Me” which I really like. But then I like clapping in music. My favourite actually. But in deference to the beauty of a true original, 4stars. ****
iTunes free download of the week - Beach House’s “Norway”
Back to my comfort zone, lovely floaty indie rock from Beach House. In the ilk (somehow) of Vampire Weekend and Jesus and Mary Chain as well (is that possible), this is a humdinger. Lovely guitar and vocals that render the lyrics a complete non-issue as you can’t for the life of you understand a word. And yet somehow so lovely. ****
