Excellent & Pathetic (The EP)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Grade: A-
Long time recording comrades, fellow Fort Martians and very good friends of mine, Ethereal Plains and Forth Star have recently collaborated, resulting in an incredible collection of songs, titled Excellent & Pathetic (The EP). Comprised of 6 new songs, as well a bonus cut recorded sometime in 2001, this is sure to get your head nodding and brain tingling from the first knocking kick to the final slapping snare.
Ethereal (pronounced "E The Real") is an exceptional emcee, with a laid back/monotone delivery, yet sharp, witty rhyme schemes and heavy content. Excellent & Pathetic (The EP), entirely produced by Forth Star, is a guaranteed fix for hip-hop addicts hungry for some grimey boom-bap. His drums are muddy and his samples are chopped, looped and tweaked to perfection.
The opening track Check The Numbers is backed by dark guitar riffs and filtered bass that rides your spine like a gremlin in heat. REM part 2 is a magnificent story of boy-meets-girl, from the perspective of a uninhibited, young gentlemen.
My favorite track overall is Recluse, where Ethereal & Forth Star trade verses over an acid/rock sample, blessed with rapid fire drums, explaining why some of us keep to ourselves, in our own little artistic worlds.
I gave this one 4.5 stars (A-), based on the music alone. I try my best to remain completely unbiased, since I'm a friend and crew mate to there guys. With that said, I truly would have given this EP 5 stars, if it where a full LP, with more tracks consistently as creative and fresh as the ones provided here.
Simply put, this project is dope. I recommend everyone check it out. And the best part is that it's absolutely free! Social Light Sounds has decided to give it away as a free download. Click the link below and find the link on the homepage.
*** FREE DOWNLOAD ***
Enjoy!
- Arablak
posted by Arablak @ 7:40 PM,
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HUGE ART AND MUSIC SHOW IN ATLANTA!!!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Its true, we are putting on our second Hijacking Music art and music show on August 23rd at Wonder Root in Atlanta. Show starts at 8pm, all ages, $5.
We are still looking for artists interested in showing their work, if that is YOU, please contact us or one of the bands and we'll get you set up.
- OTEAM
Labels: Shows
posted by Conqueror @ 7:06 AM,
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Black Spade - 'To Serve With Love'
Monday, July 14, 2008
Grade: A-
When I hear the now cliche term "hip-hop is dead" I can only laugh. It is my assessment that it is only the lazy, pseudo fans of this beautiful art that claim such nonsense.
Case in point: Black Spade, native to St. Louis, MO, who credits his influences to greats, Prince, J Dilla and Radiohead, has released an interesting / alluring mix of hip-hop, soul and attitude titled To Serve with Love.
Think Kanye West meets ATCQ and Dudley Perkins in Bobby Womack's garage. This cat is bad.
The beats are soulful, synth-laced, bass heavy and gritty. The joint 'As We', is a funky swing, airy track with humble but braggadocios self-proclamation of his intent as a dope emcee here to make his claim. The title track feels like a missing song from Slum Village's Fantastic Vol. 2 but it's clear Black Spade is no clone, vibing over the Dilla-esque production with singing melodies and a calm yet syllabic rhyme flow.
My personal favorite is 'She's The One (20's Love Song)', that has a old jazz love song sample and he delivers an intricate picture of "the one for me" with a style reminiscent of a young Q-Tip.
For fans of something new with a taste of that old school soulful flare, this is an album you will appreciate. And as I usually state, if you don't regularly listen to hip-hop, check out this album as it will give you a glimpse of this genre outside of it's mainstream representation.
Peep the video for the track "Evil Love":
Always,
- Arablak
Labels: AlbumReviews
posted by Arablak @ 11:28 AM,
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