groovelocker.livejournal.comScott's Groove Locker — LiveJournal

? LiveJournal Find more Communities RSS Reader Shop Help Login Login CREATE BLOG Join English (en) English (en) Русский (ru) Українська (uk) Français (fr) Português (pt) español (es) Deutsch (de) Italiano (it) Беларуская (be) groovelocker — Subscribe Readability Log in No account? Create an account Remember me Forgot password Log in Log in Facebook Twitter Google No account? Create an account Recent Entries Archive Friends Profile Memories Scott's Groove Locker If it's on the radio, you probably won't hear it in my set, son. Previous 10 REVIEW - Phonte "Charity Starts At Home" Sep. 30th, 2011 at 8:52 AM groovelocker Determining what makes a rapper great can be difficult. It’s always a moving target, and very few people have bothered to show their work. That said, I’m going to pull my soapbox out of the basement and state, unequivocally, that Phonte is one of the greats. His style is accessible but not juvenile (the rapper or meaning child-like). He’s extremely versatile, with an uncanny natural rhythm regardless of the beat provided. His catalog has the depth of an extreme workaholic coupled with a level of quality that shows virtually no wear and tear on his craft. His vocabulary exposes an extremely prevalent intelligence. Most importantly, however: he raps about the things I care about at an extremely proficient level and in an engaging way. At the end of the day, this is the gauge that all of us use to determine who we think is great: is this artist engaging me on the levels and espousing the values I care about? His long-awaited debut album, Charity Starts At Home , is ridiculously earnest: the things he sings about with Foreign Exchange are the things he raps about, and vice versa. While there is a LOT of Phonte out there, you are always getting Phonte as he IS. And if you go back over his catalog and note how some stances may have been different from phase to phase, these are not signs of hypocrisy…they are signs of growth. It is as if Phonte is incapable of a musical lie. If only every artist were as honest while not turning it into a corny refrain. We are in no danger of that with this album. I’ll answer the most asked question right out the gate: this is essentially a rap record. While there is a song on which Phonte ONLY sings (“To Be Yours”) and two others on which he sings and does his own guest rapping (“Ball and Chain” and “Gonna Be A Beautiful Night”), that’s about it out of a twelve-song set. This is not to say that if you only know him from fronting The Foreign Exchange you won’t dig this album (hey, those people exist. I’ve met them). I think it will depend on what your relationship with rap is in general. As someone who has listened to rap since it came out and thinks a lot of the stuff that makes it to the radio is garbage, Phonte hits me right where I am: his lyrics show a real grappling with “grown folks business”. While the beats largely accomplish everything I need all good rap beats to do - move, bounce, growl, snap, make my car shake on the way to work – it is Phonte’s verbal wrestling with relationships, trying people, business matters and his own emotions that separate him from virtually the entire field of rappers currently working. It is thought-provoking, sincere and probably the most honest rap record in recent memory. And let me offer this disclaimer for people who follow me on the regular: My complete and utter love for The Foreign Exchange would not have kept me from writing a bad review of this record if it were weak. If anything it made me take a harder look because my expectations were mad high. Phonte nailed those expectations for me. Standout tracks are “The Good Fight” (a great song to drive to work to and the coffee ain’t gettin’ it); “Sendin’ My Love”, “Not Here Anymore” (9th Wonder’s sickest offering here as producer); “Gonna Be a Beautiful Night”; “We Go Off” (my FAVORITE song on this album, featuring Pharoahe Monch); and “Who Loves You More” (my second favorite song on this album). I want to point out that I just picked six songs – half the album – as STANDOUT tracks, meaning tracks that, as far as I’m concerned, anyone would like who has any musical palette whatsoever. Consider that more than a ringing endorsement…consider it a mandatory purchase. Tags: phonte , rap , reviews 1 comment Leave a comment Share Flag Link 8 MORE Albums Worth a Closer Listen Aug. 28th, 2011 at 1:43 AM groovelocker In yesterday’s issue of USA Today one of the cover stories was entitled “11 Worth a Closer Listen”. It's a fall preview of music about to hit the streets over the next few months and the title suggests that their music critics would be covering a fistful of albums that readers should pay extra attention to lest they miss their chair when the music stops. It's a slightly misleading title. No offense to the artists that were featured in the article, but these aren’t albums that I would suggest deserve a closer listen, not because they will be bad records, but because none of them fit the bill USA Today is selling. These aren’t records you wouldn’t have heard about upon their release if USA Today hadn’t put them in the spread. ALL of these records are going to be plastered all over every talk show, billboard, music reviewer’s desk, award show and a Ryan Seacrest exclusive when they come out. You know who’s on this list of albums “deserving wider recognition (not)?” Mick Jagger. Lil Wayne. Coldplay. Metallica. Miranda Lambert. The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Mary J. Blige. The list goes on, and it’s full of people with serious label support. (What, you think they got in USA Today on their merits?) But these won’t be records deserving a closer listen; they’ll be records that, good or bad, you won’t be able to escape from even if you wanted to. Anyhow, dismissing the misapplied title, here is my list of 8 MORE albums worth a closer listen. Or is that 8 albums ACTUALLY worth a closer listen? I don’t know anymore. It’s a list of 8 albums that, based on the samples and singles to date combined with the track record of the artists in question, should be getting you tickets for noise disturbances this season. 1) Georgia Anne Muldrow – Owed to Mama Rickie No one is putting out more progressive music than this woman in any given year. This decidedly groove-laced set is straighter than some of her material, but that just makes her more dangerous. Remember what she did on the more traditional layouts on Early ? Giving her more structure in the grooves just means she’s going to attack you vocally even harder. This woman puts out about two records a year and you never know what they’re going to sound like…you just know they’re going to sound good. 2) Thundercat – The Golden Age of Apocalypse A sideman no more, Thundercat debuts with a funk/electro/jazz fusion that works very hard to keep the emotive power of the songs front and center. Based on how much I’ve been playing the stream the past week, I will be playing this almost exclusively for the next two weeks upon its release Tuesday (after which I will have essentially downloaded the whole album into my brain directly). If you like Prince, Zappa and George Duke, this is your album…especially if you like all three. 3) Phonte – Charity Starts at Home You want rapping with a brain and grown folks sensibilities? Solid grooves? Awesome hooks? This is your record. Some cats have been waiting for Phonte to drop a solo album for four years. While a huge fan of Little Brother, I have been more than satisfied with his work as part of Foreign Exchange for the last few years (not to mention a slew of guest appearances and side projects). So if you slept on FE because you wanted more Phonte raps, it sucks to be you, but here you go anyway. Phonte cares too much to give people a bad album, so I’m very excited about this project. 4) Tom Waits – Bad as Me The ringmaster returns! What I’ve heard of this album sounds like a logical – and fun – progression from his last two records. If you’re a fan you...