Rowntrees Randoms look frightfully ordinary next to some of the music in this weeks record box. I’m on a stylistic journey here, a magic carpet ride through ever changing musical landscapes. Every record I’ve been listening to is from a different genre of music. Tortoise almost made it to Album Of The Week but was beaten by a bugs dick sized amount and in hindsight I’ll probably at some time regret the decision (for about ten seconds), then get over it and get on with my life. So here goes…
J Dilla – Dillanthology 2 – Dilla’s Remixes For Various Artists
Yes there may be enough beyond the grave Jay Dee material to fill a whole rack in your favorite record store, but I’m not complaining. If a record of J Dilla beats came out every week for the rest of my life I’d buy it, such is the scarceness of bad production within his discography. One track worth earmarking from this lot is his re-working of Busta Rhymes classic ‘Whoo Ha’. Busta’s intense flow and delivery are timeless and Dilla gives a laid back jazz backdrop resulting in an intoxicating juxtaposition of styles.
Jack Penate – Everything Is New
An appropriately named sophomore album from Jack Penate. There’s much more of a ‘grown up’ feel to this album compared to his first album ‘Matinee’. Stylistic influences span a multitude of genres. The lyrical content is intelligent and the lo-fi production soulful. A more mature album yet still packed full of chart-bound tracks.
Gossip – Music For Men
Can’t say I was ever a big Gossip fan, maybe I never gave them an adequate chance - I was possibly deterred by the overandoverandoverplayed ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’ and it’s usage on Skins. This album however, I’m liking. It feels a whole lot punkier and a whole lot funkier than stuff I’ve heard from them previously; it’s still a pop record, just less so than ‘Standing In The Way Of Control. The fact that Rick Rubin facilitated their switch to Sony records and produced the album is reason alone to listen.
Tortoise – Beacons Of Ancestorship
The first track I heard from this album was the marauding, dubby, electro carnage of ‘Northern Something’. To both my disappointment and delight I found nothing else similar on the rest of the album. It’s an un-stereotypical, uber-eclectic, super-produced array of musical genius. The record is a cacophony of styles, a never-ending musical demonstration that somehow manages to remain relevant and not too far-out.
The Mars Volta – Octahedron
I was late onto The Mars Volta. From speaking to friends I concocted ideas of their music as a trippy as fuck, unexplainable, prog-rock monster that can be both as big as a house and as small as a mouse. To be honest what I found was close to what I imagined. This album is a friendlier monster, shifting it’s shape less often and less dramatically, no longer dining on acid morning, noon and night. Octahedron is much more accessible and easy listening album than the likes of ‘De-Loused In The Comatorium’.
Smoove & Turrell – Antique Soul
A dose of uplifting electronic soul music from Smoove & Turrell brings this weeks record box to a close. Smoove & Turrell are two Geordie fellas who make music with a heritage soul feel, their love for northern soul and funk is evident in the quality of the production and the vocal from Turrell is excellent. This is how modern soul albums should sound.
