It took lucky number 13 to do it, but the Legendary Roots crew finally released a concept album. The album follows the life and death of the fictional Redford Stephens. Looking at the awesome artwork, I assume that’s him at the end of the booklet.

As Roots albums go, the album moves back to what I originally loved about the band, and that’s being a BAND. Live instruments flow throughout, and Black Thought returns as one of the strongest rappers and lyricists in the game.

Speaking of instruments, the 4 part orchestral section is led by Sufjan Stevens in a collaboration I didn’t anticipate. Then again, I didn’t expect the ones from their previous album, How I Got Over. The gorgeous section encompassed one of my favorite parts of the album over about 5 minutes of high tuned string love.

Black Thought from my Outside Lands reel.

My second favorite moment is the 4^th track, One Time, featuring Dice Raw and Phonte. Those two are many-a-time collaborators on Roots albums (I think Dice has been on at least 6 Roots albums), and their verses here solidify that feeling even more.

Phonte’s verse was the best of the trio. A taste:

We wildin’ out of control until we all make the funny papers like Comic-Con

Feared in all streets so if you ever see me out in yall streets
Find another one to occupy

 

Kamal the Keymaster at Outside Lands

Finally, my favorite moment on Undun was easily the 6^th track, The OtherSide. Opening with the solid beat by Questo, Kamal kicks off the light keys before Black Thought drops the first line, “Yo, we obviously need to tone it down a bit…”. From here, the lyrics are the best timed and written on the album. Porn jumps in on the third verse with a good point:

Be an asshole when the shit hits the fan
Or bet your life on a bluff and a bad hand

Questo and the Roots salute at Outside Lands

The best part however, was the chorus; Bilal comes in with something that sounds like sampled soul music over Kamal’s organ keys:

We’re all on a journey
Down the hall of memories
Don’t worry bout what you ain’t got
Leave with a little bit of dignity
Never loved what I had
Always felt like I deserved more
But when I
Make it to the other side
That’s when we’ll settle up the score

Bilal is a powerful asset to any song, and I feel nostalgia to All Matter from Robert Glasper’s album, Double Booked (which you should run out and get if you slept on it a couple years ago, but I reviewed it).

I got to see The Roots live this year for the first time (which is where I took all these pictures) at Outside Lands, and with Undun in the arsenal, they truly can’t be stopped in the live show game. Don’t miss their tour, whenever it happens, and you can bet your ass I’ll see you at the LA show.

Undun dropped today, and was worth the wait.

Until next time my friends,

~Flak

The nominees for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards have been announced. Eminem leads all artists with ten nominations, while Bruno Mars follows closely with seven, and Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, and Lady Antebellum each clinched six. Other BTH favorites to receive nods include The Roots, Alice in Chains, Them Crooked Vultures, Janelle Monáe, and Cee-Lo’s Fuck You(!).

The nominees:

Album of the Year:
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Eminem – Recovery
Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream

Record of the Year:
B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars - Nothin’ On You
Eminem featuring Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie
Cee-Lo Green - Fuck You
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind
Lady Antebellum - Need You Now

Best New Artist:
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence & the Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding

Song of the Year:
Ray LaMontagne, songwriter (Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs) – Beg Steal or Borrow
Cee Lo Green, Philip Lawrence & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Cee-Lo Green) – Fuck You
Tom Douglas & Allen Shamblin, songwriters (Miranda Lambert) – The House That Built Me
Alexander Grant, Skylar Grey & Marshall Mathers, songwriters (Eminem featuring Rihanna) – Love The Way You Lie
Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum) – Need You Now

Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals:
“Glee” Cast – Don’t Stop Believin’ (Regionals Version)
Maroon 5 – Misery
Paramore – The Only Exception
Sade – Babyfather
Train – Hey, Soul Sister (Live)

Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals:
B.o.B, Eminem & Hayley Williams – Airplanes II
Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare – Imagine
Elton John & Leon Russell – If It Wasn’t for Bad
Lady Gaga & Beyoncé – Telephone
Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg – California Gurls

Best Dance Recording:
Goldfrapp – Rocket
La Roux – In for the Kill
Lady Gaga – Dance in the Dark
Rihanna – Only Girl (In the World)
Robyn – Dancing On My Own

Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals:
Arcade Fire – Ready to Start
Jeff Beck & Joss Stone – I Put a Spell on You
The Black Keys – Tighten Up
Kings of Leon – Radioactive
Muse – Resistance

Best Rock Album
Jeff Beck – Emotion & Commotion
Muse – The Resistance
Pearl Jam – Backspacer
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo
Neil Young – Le Noise

Best Hard Rock Performance:
Alice in Chains – A Looking in View
Ozzy Osbourne – Let Me Hear You Scream
Soundgarden – Black Rain
Stone Temple Pilots – Between the Lines
Them Crooked Vultures – New Fang

Best Rock Song:
Neil Young, songwriter (Neil Young) – Angry World
Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford & Country Winston, songwriters (Mumford & Sons) – Little Lion Man
Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, songwriters (Kings of Leon) – Radioactive
Matthew Bellamy, songwriter (Muse) – Resistance
Dan Auerbach & Patrick Carney, songwriter (The Black Keys) – Tighten Up

Best Rock Instrumental Performance
Jeff Beck – Hammerhead
The Black Keys – Black Mud
Los Lobos – Do the Murray
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds – Kundalini Bonfire
Dweezil Zappa – The Deathless Horsie

Best Alternative Music Album
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Band of Horses – Infinite Arms
The Black Keys – Brothers
Broken Bells – Broken Bells
Vampire Weekend – Contra

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals:
Chris Brown & Tank – Take My Time
Chuck Brown, Jill Scott & Marcus Miller – Love
Ronald Isley & Aretha Franklin – You’ve Got a Friend
John Legend & The Roots – Shine
Sade – Soldier of Love

Best Contemporary R&B Album:
Chris Brown – Graffiti
R. Kelly – Untitled
Ryan Leslie – Transition
Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid
Usher – Raymond V. Raymond

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:
B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars – Nothin’ on You
Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall – Deuces
Eminem featuring Rihanna – Love the Way You Lie
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind
John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common – Wake Up! Everybody

Best Rap Song:
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind
Eminem featuring Rihanna – Love the Way You Lie
Eminem – Not Afraid
B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars – Nothin’ on You
Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz – On to the Next One

Best Rap Album:
B.o.B – The Adventures of Bobby Ray
Drake – Thank Me Later
Eminem – Recovery
Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3
The Roots – How I Got Over

Best Country Collaboration with Vocals:
Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert & Jamey Johnson – Bad Angel
Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury & The Punch Brothers – Pride (In the Name of Love)
Zac Brown Band & Alan Jackson – As She’s Walking Away
Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins – Hillbilly Bone
Marty Stuart & Connie Smith - I Run to You

Best Country Song:
Casey Beathard, Dean Dillon & Jessie Jo Dillon, songwriters (George Strait) – The Breath You Take
Zac Brown, songwriter (Zac Brown Band) – Free
Tom Douglas & Allen Shamblin, songwriters (Miranda Lambert) – The House That Built Me
Rivers Rutherford, Annie Tate & Sam Tate, songwriters (Gretchen Wilson) – I’d Love to Be Your Last
Kimberly Perry, songwriter (The Band Perry) – If I Die Young
Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum) – Need You Now

Best Country Album:
Dierks Bentley – Up On The Ridge
Zac Brown Band – You Get What You Give
Jamey Johnson – The Guitar Song
Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
Miranda Lambert – Revolution

Best Americana Album:
Rosanne Cash – The List
Los Lobos – Tin Can Trust
Willie Nelson – Country Music
Robert Plant – Band of Joy
Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone

Best Traditional Blues Album:
James Cotton – Giant
Cyndi Lauper – Memphis Blues
Charlie Musselwhite – The Well
Pinetop Perkins & Willie “Big Eyes” Smith – Joined at the Hip
Jimmie Vaughan – Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites

Best Metal Performance
Iron Maiden – El Dorado
Korn – Let the Guilt Go
Lamb of God – In Your Words
Megadeth – Sudden Death
Slayer – World Painted Blood

For a full list of the nominees, have a look here.

Over the last two and a half decades, we have gone through an astounding range of sounds, subject matter, and drumsticks. From the humble beginnings of the early 90’s and Do You Want More?!!!??!, to the album Phrenology that got me hooked, The Legendary Roots crew has been nothing short of that.

And now here we are, just days after the release of the groups’ eleventh studio album, How I Got Over. Themed as just that, I have tagged this album as the comeback album of the year, if not the last ten. For me personally, I felt like it came along at the perfect time for the hard times that I and millions of other people of all races, religions, and ages are going through. Yeah I know it sounds farfetched, but let’s give credit where it’s due.

The usual crew is here, with the new additions Tuba Gooding Jr. on the Sousaphone and Owen Biddle on the bass getting a better moment to shine. Another strong contender on the album musically was Kamal Gray. I feel like as time goes on, he becomes a stronger presence in the band. Also as most of you know, The Roots have been the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon since March of last year, and have since proved themselves as the most badass house band in history. How I Got Over is debatably my favorite Roots album thus far, with an impressive (albeit odd) array of guest stars jumping on tracks.

But I’ll end the digression, and talk about How I Got Over and how it helped me do just that. The weight and tone of this album is very political, calling out a certain shitty president, and giving praise to another. Also the ghetto is red hot, and the crew is still stepping on flames all over the track with a few new friends that I never thought would be doing collaboration with the crew.

Those mega-cuties from Dirty Projectors kicked the album off with their acapella harmony in A Peace of Light, as the band one by one jumped into the groove before bleeding into the deep and dark lyric second track, Walk Alone.

God 2.0 was a favorite of mine, with super group Monsters of Folk providing the chorus vocals and instrumentals. Blackthought takes the time on this track to give us a state of the world all while easily rhyming over a dozen lines in his flow. There’s something to be said about an MC being able to do what he did on this track, as he stayed relevant, and just plain asked a plethora of good questions for the big guy above.

Musically, the best track on the album easily goes to the tenth track, Doin’ It Again. The band perfectly samples the sultry sound from the John Legend track Again. Questlove held it down throughout the song, with Blackthought going harder on his rhymes than he’s gone in many an album.

Overall though, my favorite track was the eighth track, The Day. Both Blu and Phonte jump on this track, with the lovely blonde songstress Patty Crash singing the chorus. The game these rappers bring to the table with Blackthought made this an essential groove for the summer; trying to push through working through the beautiful weather of Los Angeles. It’s a song about change, something we all need a little bit of. The lyric that stuck out to me the most came from Phonte saying: “Even a three legged dog still has three good legs to lose”. Too true.

For you new Roots listeners, understand that this is an album unlike anything they have done before, with guests that most rap lovers have never heard of. What I like about that though, is the subtle stab at getting you to check out what say, Joanna Newsom is up to.

For the long time fans, the Legendary Roots crew hasn’t even come close to losing their edge, and will probably find this album more enjoyable than their last few albums. I’m still debating if it’s the best album of theirs, but it’s definitely my favorite since Thing Fall Apart. There’s too much for me to speak on in one feature, but as always, you shouldn’t take my word for it. Go get it.

Until next time my friends,

~Flak

Once having listened to Scott Mescudi’s (a.k.a. Kid Cudi) debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, it’s easy to believe that he had a part in Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak last year; it’s got the same amalgam of electronic influences as well as dealing with the same somewhat morose subject matter. Kid Cudi is able to avoid immediate comparison to West’s last album thanks to a broader assortment of influences and sounds, which could be in part thanks to the larger number of collaborators.

Kid Cudi's impression of McDonald's eighties mascot, Mac Tonight

While Kid Cudi’s debut is definitely impressive, it hits a number of snags. One big thing is Common’s completely unnecessary narration, which appears at random. It’s as though Mescudi feared that the unity among the tracks as far as the production and lyrics were concerned wasn’t enough to make the album feel conceptual, so lines for a narrator were tacked on between certain songs. It doesn’t flow, and doesn’t feel genuine; it only serves to disrupt Man on the Moon’s momentum. Speaking of flow, another issue is that Kid Cudi barely has one. This isn’t exactly crippling, as the vocal patterns are very well constructed, but his voice is caught awkwardly betwixt singing, rapping, and talking voices, not really registering as any of these. Lyrically, while Mescudi certainly can’t be accused of being empty or bereft of feeling, as there’s a lot of that here, more often than not he sacrifices any sense of poetry for directness to the point of coming across as self pitying. Up Up & Away is an unfortunate example of this, with the embittered cheerleader-esque refrain “They gon’ judge me anyway, so WHATEVER.”

Jinkies, yo!

Issues are indeed abound in Man on the Moon, but as mentioned before, the album is far from a flop. One of the record’s best qualities is the production; not only is it fairly diverse, but the elaborate construction in many cases is remarkably accomplished. The best moments come when Kid Cudi runs with the spacey feel that underlies the album; on Alive and Pursuit of Happiness in particular, both helmed by indie electronic outfit Ratatat (with help from MGMT on the latter track), the beats are trippy while with an alluring, head bobbing rhythm. Pursuit‘s music is also a perfect match for the deformed hope in the lyrics, psychedelic with a hint of sadness.

Soundtrack 2 My Life is a perfect example of how capable the melodies are. The vocal harmony is so compelling that the cheesy Charles in Charge reference, Jay-Z quoting, and dramatic lines like, “it’s close to go and trying some coke, and a happy ending would be slitting my throat” are barely distracting. The following Simple As… has a beautifully layered intro and startlingly clever wordplay (“as simple as that for your simple ass”), and the piano leading along the heavy synths and Mescudi’s bitter lyrics is absolutely beautiful. Great as these moments are, the highlight has to be Kid Cudi and Kanye West’s send up of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face on Make Her Say, which carries an amusing energy on par with The Roots’ single Birthday Girl.

Man on the Moon fumbles a bit at the end with the generic slow jam sound of Hyyerr as well as Common popping up once more to conclude his narration, but the album doesn’t quite end on a sour note. Kid Cudi is able to largely live up to the hype that has surrounded him for the past year, and his interesting perspectives on the genre will no doubt yield even better works in the future.

Some of you don’t know what the meaning of “Slept On”  is, so the easy way to say it is with this latest release of musical genius (and newest member of the Soulquarians, I can pretty much say) Robert Glasper and his crew. These guys have been slept on for years now, and have brought us exuberant tracks, such as their cover of Radiohead’s Everything In It’s Right Place.

But today, we have Robert Glasper’s newest release; a two disc album entitled Double Booked.  Hailing from the syrup capitol of the world, this Houston born jazz monster brings forth talent and creativity that I believe has been missing in my collection of off the wall versions of the genres many artists represent. Blue Note Records have been putting out great albums for decades (Art Blakey, Miles Davis, and Sonny Clark just to name a few) now, and this year is going to be another heavy hitter.

Disc one is The Robert Glasper Trio, comprised of Robert, Vicente Archer on bass, and Chris Dave on the drums; while disc two feature the The Robert Glasper Experiment comprised of Robert, Derrick Hodge on the bass, Chris Dave again on drums, with Casey Benjamin bring the sax and vocoder to the table. These guys are all top notch, and what I would like to classify as The Mars Volta of jazz.

I loved the feel of the album, with both discs starting with a phone call. The first is with Terrence Blanchett, who talks business about confirming the trio coming through to his club to play. The other is with Questlove (aka Questso, aka Amir) of The Roots asking the Experiment to come play at the Highline with them, Mos Def, and Bilal. Let it be said that all those aforementioned people are part of the Soulquarians…I’m just saying.

Let’s get into the best tracks of this release with spoiler alert: one of the tracks being on my list of the best tracks of the year. We runnin’ this, let’s go.

No Worries, the second track on the first disc gives that feel of being in the audience, with the announcer introducing the group, and giving a round of applause before kicking into a smooth groove. I felt like the piano would subtly spill over the track, as a classy glass of brandy spills over the lip. Truth be told though, I felt the urge to do the Pee Wee Herman dance around the room, or get down like Bill Cosby at the beginning of his show. It began slowly and all the instruments picked up energy throughout the middle, before settling down to land like a feather and fading out.

I got a hip hop infused vibe after the wild piano intro of track six on the first disc, Think of One. This one was very easy to nod your head too, with silly piano breakdowns throughout the song. There were also lingering moments and jazz heavy bass fills to keep the song softly afloat, before returning to its heavier moments of hip hop beat formation.

On disc two; after checking his messages and doing a sound check with Mos Def, the Experiment does an excellent cover of Herbie Hancock’s Butterfly for their second track. The original framework was kept, along with the eerie voice manipulation; but new is the insane drum work of Chris Dave, tearing the song to shreds several times over.

The most psychedelic track award goes to Festival, the third track on the second disc. The song is literally everywhere. Some parts are slow and jazzy, other parts pure insanity. Casey Benjamin tears it up throughout the middle of the track, and even has a badass solo near the six minute mark. I loved the idea of everyone breaking away to do their own thing in the track, then coming together again to match notes with drum hits.

As always, I saved the best track for last. Neo soul expert Bilal joins up with the experiment to give us a life lesson in the song All Matter. The lyrics stick in my head when I think about defining love, and may even be…dare I say, inspirational? Anywho, the bass in this song floats along gently the entire time, staying on the low end most of the time, with the piano being played by Glasper in what has to be one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time.

Bilal is a true talent, and this track brought out new appreciations for him. While slight, the drum work from 3:13 to 3:18 is the part of the song I rewind back through the most. It’s so good; you can even hear someone in the background mutter at how fresh it was, during this perplexing mid-song segment. This intense track easily catapulted itself into my list of the best songs of the year; just give it time and you’ll agree.

Robert Glasper did it again, with a refined power unlike anything I have heard in the jazz world. Originality seems fewer and farther between these days, but with this dual album, I feel like the world will wake up off one of the most talented musicians that have ever been slept on.

Robert Glasper’s Double Booked hits stores today, and I will file this under the must have albums of the year for you music aficionados out there. I’ve had the album quite some time thanks to Cem K. at EMI, and couldn’t wait to get this one out there for you all.

Until next my friends, just remember, it’s all matter,

~Flak

I knew that once I had confirmation of press attendance to this years’ touring hip hop circuit Rock the Bells 2009, I would be in for a day of head-bobbing, mean mugging, and enough bass to make my teeth hurt for the next week. Put simply, it was one of the best days this summer has offered me here at Behind the Hype.

Rolling up on the scene, we are greeted by the parking securities, who guide us to the front of the parking lot, just near the gates. After feeling the scene out, we acquired our press passes and had a brief chat with the one and only Shazila M., our liason that got us there in the first place.

We stepped into the press tent while The Knux was doing their thing, and getting the crowd hyped up for the afternoon’s activities. Chali 2Na (of Jurassic 5 fame) was up next after a quick set up to keep things moving. The sound quality in the hills of San Bernadino was amazing, and while the place wasn’t filled up yet, we knew we were in for a good show.

Dan Huse (master of these photos) and I walked the grounds to the Paid Dues Stage, to catch some of my favorite MC’s from the underground hip hop group, The Living Legends. Two of the members, Luckyiam.PSC and Sunspot Jonz teamed up for their side project, Mystik Journeymen. They had us laughing and bobbing our head from the start, throwing out free cds and talking about Lady Gaga’s recent he/she issue. The crew represented their crew quite well, even taking time out to smoke a blunt from a crowd member, before ending the set beautifully.

Immediately after word on the Main Stage, the hill was awash with the sounds from the subjects of my interview, Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko. I now understand how he became the highest selling indie artist in America, with a high energy, semi choreographed set with Krizz Kaliko. DJ Chill laid down some impressive tracks for the crew to get busy to, getting the bikini clad women in the front row all riled up.

I felt nostalgic later on in the day when Big Boi came out with Sleepy Brown to perform mainly Outkast songs past and present. I wish that: Andre 3000 was in attendance to  make it official, and that Big Boi performed Royal Flush from his upcoming album Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. All this however, were made up to me by the picture I snagged with the duo later on.

During the day, I spent some time talking to the security guard next to the stage; and we discussed who the secret performer of the evening would be. I was (correctly) skeptical when he told me it was going to be Jay Z, because he and Nas aren’t on speaking terms again. Silly boys. It was none other than our (second) favorite Londoner, Slick Rick.

I was shocked more than impressed really, because I thought he got kicked out of our country for his romping around with a gun in the 09’s, but ah well. I did love however, that he got us all hyped with his classic track Children’s Story before the set to the end of the night extravaganza.

Next up was one of the most talented performances I have ever seen, brought to us from the legendary Roots crew. The Roots are known for their top notch live shows, and I see why. At first they started a lovely jam session, just to get everyone’s chops up to speed, before breaking out their new single, How I Got Over from their upcoming album of the same name. After seeing them live, I had renewed vigor to stave off my hunger for that album’s October release date.

The most powerful part of the night however, was the Nas and Damien Marley collaboration. Another journalist from a certain Los Angeles web magazine (you know who you are young lady) had no faith that he would come out. Apparently, last year Nas was a no show, but I knew once I had the pleasure of meeting Mulatto (one of Nas’ live band crews), I knew it was official.

The lovely journalist and I waited patiently while our photographers snapped away during the action. We were asked by a guard if we wanted to go up on stage (or the side of it at least) to get a better look at Nas, and after the shock wore off; we obliged the man, and headed up.

There we were, ten feet from Nas while he performed If I Ruled the World. Needless to say, I felt more energy seeping off that stage that just about every concert I have ever been to. I stand proud to have shared the moment with such a talented photographer and fun-loving journalist (even if she was the competition) on that stage…even if we did get yelled at by the head of security for being up on the stage.

Dan and I took that time to say our goodbyes to the festival, and enjoy the amazing Ice Cube on the way out to the car, for the end of one hell of an engagement. This was a surreal and true honor, and I hope I’ve brought some of it here to you today.

Until next time my friends,

~Flak

P.S.- As you know, my work was not done all alone, nay. I want to give a shout out to Shazila M. and Aaron F. from MSO for making the day what it was. Without them, we wouldn’t have gotten the honor of press passes and contact information to what we needed to get done. Also, Megan at Juggernaut Sound for setting up our interview with Tech N9ne (which is coming shortly). And finally, that sultry journalist over at LA2Day for sticking it out with me all day, and getting on stage with Nas to cause some trouble.

Since my friend Jordyn B. over at MLC PR hit me up with this album over a month ago, I’ve been (attempting to) bump it in my car, feeling the endearing affect of white boys doing reggae…and doing it quite well.

We are talking about Rebelution, whom you may remember has been running the game since their debut album in 2007, Courage to Grow. By running, I’m talking about maintaining a steady position in the 10 ten reggae albums chart for all this time. Yes the boys are that good.

Today, I’m pleased to tell you FINALLY that their sophomore album entitled, Bright Side of Life is out. Things have only gotten better this time around. Matt Velasquez was a good singer, but I think Eric Rachmany (I’m going to pronounce it Rock-Many, as it is more badass) is great. He gives me nostalgia of earlier 311’s Nick Hexum. Marley Williams is on bass, with a refined skill over his previous work, with Rory Carey keeping it steady on the keyboards. Wesley Finley is the shit on the drums, giving them a little bit more edge than usual reggae would have, but it’s all very welcomed in my book.

Already number six on the charts today, I want to break down what weapons were brandished to slay the opposition right out of the gates.

The intro song and title track, Bright Side of Life has a beautiful guitar shred piece that really warms you up the way an album should. The pieces of Wesley on drums when he beats the kick drum in a quick succession of six made me literally nod my head in approval as I ran the track back a few times for good measure. Also keep an ear out for the lovely horn section throughout.

Almost making itself my number one choice for songs on the album, track three, Outta Control is just that. The guitar in the chorus is amazing right after the silly keyboard/bass combo, and sick drum kick off pre-chorus. The songs not only keeps it upbeat musically, but also tackles the hit and miss tactics we try with ladies that don’t always work as we plan. I’ll admit, I change the chorus to “this shit’s outta control” every time I sing it, as I do the Funky Charleston with my little brother in our living room.

I can’t forget about the simple summer love song, Lazy Afternoon.  Not to be confused with the track by The Roots’ 1994 Do You Want More song of the same name; this one is about spending the lazy day with the one you love (or your flavor of the week, whichever). This is truly a piece of the bright side of life.

"Posted up like a mailbox" as Paul Wall would say.

But my favorite chunk of the album actually comes in the form of three songs together. Much like third, fourth, and fifth tracks of the Mars Volta’s The Bedlam in Goliath, I feel the same feelings for the sixth, seventh and eighth track on Rebelution’s latest work.

The first of the three is a down low beat called Too Rude, which I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to have this conversation with people (you know who you are). This is what reggae is about. People forget that just because it’s not as poetic, it’s more of message music. You can nod your head not only in agreement with what’s being said, but also to the dub styles and reggae flows that a song like this captured perfectly.

The second is actually an instrumental entitled Dubzilla, which originally I thought was part of the song that it flows seamlessly into. It has the perfect (what I like to call) morning horns throughout it, with the keys laying down a steady heightening number of notes along with the bass. The drums as always are sick on this track, with the cymbal work being particularly enticing.

After running the track before it back a few times, I reached the blend to the third part of my favorite piece of the album, Bump. This song is perfect for me, because I find myself having conversations with people about being true to you, gaining respect, and being there for other people. This is the bottom line rule about life, and we get it to a sick guitar solo in the middle of the song. I can’t get enough of the bass line, or the drum changeovers throughout it. This is what I say to Rebelution: this is what kind of music keeps you at the top, regardless of what haters will say.

This is album is incredible, and came along right in time to brighten your life during the summer time, with a message that is as positive as it is true. I’ll have the honor of spending time with the band at the West Beach Music and Arts Festival in mid September, in their hometown Santa Barbara.

Sales are probably going crazy already in the stores, so if you can’t find a copy, grab it on iTunes and bump it at the beach. It feels good to be right all the time about how good an album can be. Be a part of the Rebelution, I promise you’ll love it.

Until next time my friends,

~Flak

I almost didn’t write a post on this dual album, because it’s technically more of a greatest hits than a new album, but this is a band that is up there with influence to my love of the music game. Last time I saw one of the members of Incubus was at a Fry’s Electronics shortly after Ben Kenney left The Roots for Incubus. He was with DJ Kilmore, and after a brief conversation, got a signed dollar bill by the boys. I still feel bad for not realizing who Ben was at the time, but c’mon….Chris Kilmore had me a little star struck.

I still get the nostalgia of Incubus’ history starting with Fungus Amongus, to when people learned about them through their 1999 album Make Yourself. I still have my original case and disc stuffed into a box in the garage, refusing to let go of that high school-making album.

Their sound changed with the next album, Morning View, and we gained a few dissenters, but still we trucked on with our love of Incubus (more specifically Brandon Boyd for the ladies) all the way to the politically charged A Crow Left of the Murder. After breaking free of their contractual coils, the band would soar to high heights again with their fans in a George Bush powered world.

After kicking Bush in the teeth with that album, the band toured a while before releasing Light Grenades in late 2006. This amazing album began what would be a 2 year hiatus before releasing any album. The DVD of their tour, Look Alive gave me a new respect for wanting to travel the world and for the band itself.

And now, we have the bands two disc compilation of their greatest work to date, entitled Monuments and Melodies. But this isn’t just the stuff from yesteryear that you’ve heard before.  All but two of the songs on the first disc are singles from their other albums, with Black Heart inertia (the first track) and Midnight Swim (the last track) being the new tracks. From Pardon Me to Oil and Water, there’s plenty to love.

But what really made this compilation worth the PoA (price of admission if you’re nasty) is the second disc. It’s comprised of B-Sides and rarities from across the years.

Keep an ear out for the chorus of the first track, Neither of Us Can See (its accompanying bridge is amazing as well). The song is too true for relationships these days.

Number three, While All the Vultures Feed has an amazing message that you should go and discover for yourself (aka I don’t feel like finding the lyrics for you), put to a guitar heavy background. Ben tiptoes beautifully around the track, making this one of my favorites.

Pantomime is a nostalgic track that my old friend Heidi W. actually showed me years ago. This time around it’s not a live version, but it’s even better than the original.

Both Heidi W. and Kevin T. fell in love with the “lounge” version of Incubus’ track on S.C.I.E.N.C.E.’s A Certain Shade of Green, that made me smile once I heard the band breaking it down for us. It makes it return as the 9^th track for a welcome comeback.

And in honor of Prince, Brandon takes us back to 1984 to tell us about “this thing called life”, in the cover of Let’s Go Crazy. Honestly, it’s one of the better covers I’ve heard in a while, and it’s not at all a surprise.

However it’s the second track, Look Alive that may very well be my favorite Incubus song of all time. Maybe it’s because I saw them perform it at the very end of the Look Alive DVD. Or perhaps it’s the ludicrously difficult bass line that Ben Kenney lays down. The whole band is on point with this one; from the submarine intro, to the hurrah yelled by Ben at the end.

The band has come a long way, and according to Mike, we can look forward to another album next year sometime. For now you’ll have to settle for seeing them in concert on tour right now. Me? I’ll be backstage with them at Outside Lands August 28-30 in San Francisco if I have the honor.

Monuments and Melodies is out now, so go cop it and support the boys.

Until next time my friends,

~Flak

P.S.- Incubus loves their Japanese bonus tracks. Try and get a copy to listen to Make a Move, New Skin, Follow, the acoustic version of Make Yourself, and Kevin T.’s favorite, Crowded Elevator (Damn Kev, remember that one?).

What better way to get back into my little writers nook than to do a little BaRF action for you guys eh? Let’s begin shall we?

Our boy Dante has been for years an advocate for Brooklyn hip hop, and for good reason. He isn’t your run of the mill artist talking about bullshit. I first really got into him whilst in his powerful duo with MC Talib Kweli, forming Blackstar. Their self titled album debut in 1998, and has remained one of the most important hip hop albums in the industry today. Taking a break from acting, he jumped back in the studio to try and update us on the times.

And while Blackstar hasn’t made their triumphant return just yet, Mos Def recently released his latest work entitled The Ecstatic. Mos takes us on another trip down the deepest parts of all of our cultures, from drugs, to violence, to the war in Iraq. Let’s break it down BaRF style.

Beats 10/10

Just like the lyric in Casa Bey, the entire album has a ‘fantastic rawness’ to it throughout the album. I say this because while keeping the funky Brooklyn vibe alive in later songs, the first half of the album has a Middle Eastern organic feel to it sprinkled about it.

The intro track, Supermagic, was produced by Oh No (the brother of the legendary Madlib) and brings electric guitar to an Islamic culture (very suiting since Def is of Islamic faith) for a very successful beat.

Another favorite of mine is the sixth track, and also the second single off the album, entitled Quiet Dog Bite Hard. It focuses heavily on the drums; many types of drums to be exact. In a live performance on David Letterman (which I wanted to embed, but it was pulled), Mos plays drums along with the band behind him.

Pistola, the tenth track, was also produced by Oh No. Maybe it’s the sampling in the background of Billy Wooten’s In the Rain, or the xylophone playing amongst the track, but it’s beautiful nonetheless.

But Casa Bey, the last track (and also the third single), is by far the best, with a live band jamming out the funky tunes. Produced by Andre Lyon, he made sure he got the east coast feel perfectly right, and I tip my hat to him for it. Some of you may see me bobbing my head to this one around town, even if my speakers are already torn to shreds.

Rhymes  8/10

What can I say really? It’s Mos Def at his finest. I was a fan of his other work, but his writing on this album is for sure his best work yet. While the song Life in Marvelous Times (the 7^th track) isn’t my favorite beat, the message in the lyrics are clever and as usual, picture painting. Here’s a piece of the lyrics:

Ends don’t meet where the arms can’t reach
Mean streets
Even when its free it ain’t cheap.
On going saga, terminal diagnosis,
Basic survival requires super heroics.

No space in the budget for a cake
It’s when you gotta fly by night to save the day

Crash-landings routinely happen
Some survive, others never rise from the ashes.

Watching asphalt and observing the Sabbath.
Creates an ecstatic and there you have it

Featurettes 8/10

While there aren’t that many people jumping on this album, they are very powerful additions. In the studio, you have producer Dre on Casa Bey (although I don’t know what he exactly said), and Georgia Anne Muldrow on Roses.

The two that will attract big flies however; will be Talib Kweli on the J Dilla (whom is resting in peace) produced song History. Talib is always welcome on a Mos Def album to give me a taste of Blackstar. The track may not have been Definition from the Blackstar album, but it’ll do. However, the biggest surprise to me is the addition of the one and only Slick Rick (lahdy dahdy) to the mix, giving his amazing verse about being a soldier in Iraq in the song Audition. While giving that trademark soft humorous tone in his voice, Rick still delivers a powerful message about the state of our war.

But to get to the nitty, the best track all around would have to be Casa Bey, for its overall creativity, from funky bass line intro, to the piano outro to take us home. What’s more, is that the video for the album was extremely creative and original, and with the bonus featurette of The Roots playing live with Mof Def on Jimmy Fallon, it sealed the deal. I’ve delivered (as I always do *wink wink*) the  live video link for you to see what I mean. And here’s the link to the actual music video from YouTube (they didn’t want anyone embedding apparently). MySpace is selling the album for 3.99 so go cop it!

Hopefully this BaRF is just what you needed to eat up before the weekend. More love to come next week!

Until next time my friends,

~Flak