Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: C-mon & Kypski
Album Title: Where The Wild Things Are
Year: 2006

Quiltmasters of Sound (in training)
 
How I Got Into This Music
Hieronymus Fox suggested we listen to this band (gotta change the setup of this post coz this part’s not making any sense..)

The Tracks:

Bumpy Road
FrEg
In-your-face intro - like it. Nice uptempo groove, mixed with Wall of Sound heaviness - like the bass.
The singing offers a strange contrast against the heavy mix of sounds. Nice bridge.
Hieronymus Fox
The single. Kinda when Junkie XL meets Fatboy Slim. The voice-overs are funny at the beginning, but start to annoy me during the song. I am missing a “flow” which makes the song a little boring, I think. Reminds me more of a TV Comedy tune.
frenchy!
Yes, I get the irony, yes, I really do, don’t worry.. Nice 70’s feel combined with scratch-n-breaks. Please notice the great guitar sample in the background! It’s mostly a patchwork track of styles and samples, refreshing and yet a bit tedious!

Chemical Mixture
FrEg
Like the intro even more than Bumpy road’s. Sounds like a cross mix of Aphex Twin break beats meet Chemical Brothers. Lots of tweaks, bells and whistles - in the end it’s too much, especially the scratching. This heavy sequencer based techno is not quite my kinda music
Hieronymus Fox
The start of this song is promising: raw old school hip hop beats meet electrosounds… When they start “freaking” in the song I start losing interest a little. It reminds me more of a DJ battle than a song. 3 minutes of Chemical Mixture is really my limit!
frenchy!
Great sample and scratch work. The track’s sooooo retro (in a great way!)

Attention
FrEg
Kinda easier to digest: more to dance to than on the previous tracks. Starts of in reggae style while ending in acid dance and the ending is too abrupt
Hieronymus Fox
Mhhhh…. “Survival” (a Grandmaster Flash classic) opening and then…. It’s when reggae meets drum’n bass. Where have I heard that before? Despite funny voice samples, this could have been that specific song from Goldie’s first album or the 1998 Freestylers’ album you mostly… skipped…
frenchy!
Afrika Bambaataa and Kraftwerk are back, still with a 00’s cheap ripped-off feeling. That female vocal sample’s from Eric B and Rakim’s Paid In Full. Nice but not shockingly great.

Chocolate
FrEg
Techno goes India - choice of instruments is good, but I don’t get the link between title and music (should’ve listened more closely, FrEg - frenchy!)
Hieronymus Fox
Freaky synth bass, nice acoustics. But still… it doesn’t work for me.
frenchy!
I love the guitar and that funky snake charmer horn!

Conclusion
FrEg
In every song, you hear that it’s well crafted and thought through. The mix of styles is all over the place which makes it harder for me to form a strong opinion about this band. All-in-all the balance is going towards positive so give it a serious try yourself!
3/5
Hieronymus Fox
First of all, respect for the attempt of crossing music borders (again), but the search for new and surprising is annoying me. Every moment is used for “new” twists in the songs. Where’s the soul? For Fatboy Slim it worked. The chosen instruments and sounds should be sufficient for almost half of it. The songs I have listened to, made me think of a collage [...] and this starts to annoy me every time halfway the song.
Sorry guys…. I am not going to buy your album, but I am curious for your next one.
frenchy!
It’s different in the same way you describe a girl as having a great personality. Thing is, it really isn’t about the looks, it’s about the sound and that’s where the band kinda falls short. I wouldn’t mind seeing them live though, they sure as hell have a great energy!

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General Description
Artist/Band: Outkast
Album Title: Idlewild
Year: 2006

Not a Classic?
 
How I Got Into This Music
Hmm.. First time I saw/heard a track by these guys was The Art Of Storytelling with Slick Rick . It caught my attention: speedy, smart rapping and two guys not really fitting the usual rap star mold. I kinda lost track of them (didn’t even remember the band name), but then Bombs Over Baghdad happened - WOW! Still one of the most incredible things I’ve ever heard in my life.. Just the drum beat programming knocked me off my chair, damn!.
And then, I kinda lost track of them, again - silly me. With the fantastic Speakerboxx/The Love Below album these guys made it to the top and now they’re a household name in rap and pop. Now the soundtrack to their Idlewild movie Project has been released.

Album credits at artistdirect.com || Google Search: Other reviews of Idlewild || Review at Answers.com

Tracks that got my attention:
Intro
It’s a great way to start an album: taking on the critics in one clean sweep. But the sneakiness is in the great music that’s lurking in the background

Mighty “O”
Easy single material - the Cab Calloway/Minnie the Moocher hook works perfectly for the pop charts

Peaches ft. Sleepy Brown, Scar
Outkast has a lot of styles that can be called their own and Typical Outkast. This is one of them: Big Boi’s hi-tempo rap, sweet and lush accompanying vocals and a very, very tight beat. Love it

Idlewild Blue
Second single off the album. Very gutsy video, song’s okay.

N2U
See the remarks for Peaches - it’s smart, how they do this track, people ‘ll be humming this track for weeks

Chronomentrophobia
This one’s more the Andre 3000 flavour but in this case, it doesn’t work for me

The Train ft. Sleepy Brown, Scar
Okay, I should be getting tired of hearing the same style over and over, but like Peaches and N2U, this track really gives me a great feeling. I guess with this album, I’m preferring Big Boi’s work more than Andre 3000’s

Hollywood Divorce ft. Lil’ Wayne, Snoop Dogg
Very strong track, the combo of different rap vocals, the haunting keyboards and ultra-dry hi-hat beat are very tasty. Also a likely candidate for single release

Call The Law ft. Janelle Monae
Very nice vocals from this lady, the retro Roaring Twenties feel fits the theme of the movie

Makes No Sense At All
Andre 3000 genius insanity - love it and hate it at the same time, makes no sense at all..

PJ And Rooster
This is truely Outkast: weird, funny, sharp and witty - that’s what Gnarls Barkley tried to copy and still haven’t mastered..

Greatest Show On Earth ft. Macy Gray
I just love this girl’s attitude, her performance on this track with Andre 3000’s backing vocals help create a great circus atmosphere - offbeat, kinky and fun!

Conclusion
I kinda expected the same new discoveries I made while listening to their previous album, but that’s very silly and contradictory.. These guys have a unique and fresh approach to the production and performance of the tracks. Even if their work is a bit predictable on this album, it still is very high quality stuff. Not really interested in the movie, the album’s good enough for me.

Rating: (being just a wee bit generous..)

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General Description
Artist/Band: Justin Timberlake
Album Title: FutureSex/LoveSounds
Year: 2006

Twice shy?
 
How I Got Into This Music
First single from his Justified album took me by surprise: a boy band nobody doing serious pop, produced by the Neptunes, how can that be?
I just didn’t know what to think.. Second and third single came out and I knew I had to give that record a listen. The element of surprise worked for 4 or 5 tracks but the other ones weren’t that good. Still, I was curious for whatever this guy was producing. His incredible track on Sergio Mendes’ Timeless showed the quality of a real performer.
And now, his second album is out.. Logical progression or ??

Album info at Answers.com || Album review at artistsdirect.com || Google: Other reviews of this album

Tracks that got my attention:
Futuresex/Lovesound
Title track. Took me quite a while to get used to the sound, the groove and beats. There’s this Another One Bites the Dust effect on the bass groove, catchy.

Sexyback
First single off the album - can’t get used to it. It sure as hell is different than what I kinda expected, but that’s okay with me

Sexy Ladies/Let Me Talk to You Prelude
That bass is what makes it work for me on this track. Timbaland’s production value is working its stuff here..

My Love
Second single, so typical of this album: can’t put my finger on it, great yet disappointing

Lovestoned/I Think She Knows Interlude
First part of the track’s full of dance energy. Second part, nothing subtle about it

Chop Me Up
Horrible, horrible.. First time I’ve been able to categorize this guy as a wigger. And that’s not fair, but this track really gets on my nerves

Damn Girl
Annoying Will.I.Am featuring on this excellent track, full credits for the Old Soul Vibe they’ve produced on this track

Until the End of Time
Already labeled as the new King Of Pop and he still wants more: great beat sample of Prince’s Purple Rain era.

(Another Song) All Over Again
A very mature track, but what really knocked my socks off was finding out who the producer was: one of this sweet earth’s most important and influential producers of the last two decades, Rick Rubin

Take Away Your Love
Shit, close your eyes and you get that Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Debarge feeling - scary how well produced this track sounds. And Timberlake’s no slouch either..

Pose ft. Snoop Dogg
Nasty lyrics, great beat and of course long-time collaborator Snoop on this funky bonus track

Floatin’ ft. Charlie Wilson
Like the previous track, Floatin’ is more like the tracks of the first album - love it!

Conclusion
Respect. Sounds cheesy, but the guy keeps on taking risks and on this album there are plenty taken: no Neptunes, no reusing of the success formula of the previous album, more Dirty South influences. Some work, some really, really don’t. Timbaland seems to be the main influence and that works quite well, but I kinda miss the Neptunes on this album. It takes guts to take these risks and even though I preferred the debut album, the FutureSex/LoveSounds album is a great follow-up. I just wonder if it’ll be just as successfull.. It’s kinda weird that I enjoyed the bonus tracks more than the album itself.

Rating:

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General Description
Artist/Band: Azevedo Silva
Album Title: Clarabóia
Year: 2006

Moody..
 
How I Got Into This Music
It kinda found me.. I got a mail from the artist if I was interested in listening to his demo tracks at myspace and if I wanted to consider writing a review. Ego-wise, I’m guessing about a gazillion bloggers were contacted about this demo, but I kinda like the approach: no multi-billion record company sales machine, just a mail and a profile at myspace. Ok, works for me.
I thought it’d be interesting to change the setup of the review by asking two friends of mine to listen to the three tracks and send me their opinion. So this review is a done by a three man committee (Hmm.. maybe next time, some female opinions?)

The Tracks:

O Início

FrEg
1st impression: if you like this type of music (I got a CD of Billy McLaughlin at home) then it’s okay.
Conclusion: get’s a bit monotonous, more variations would be nice
Hieronymus Fox
Melodic. The guitar is somewhat too loud and that is why is starts getting on my nerves after a couple of times. After some post production, I think it would be a nice tune for a Peter Coyote kind of melancholic road movie.
frenchy!
Love the intro, it’s full of promise. Spacey effects on the background remind me of a track by Ween. Like the whole atmosphere.

Deserto

FrEg
1st impression: Slow, but echo on vocals works for the atmosphere and enhances it too.
Conclusion: needs a more fuller sounding vocals, maybe without the echo?
Hieronymus Fox
This is too depressing for me. Reminds me of the dark side of the Seattle sound. Again I think the guitars is too loud, vocals too low.
frenchy!
Nope, not going anywhere, this song.

Cianeto de Potássio

FrEg
1st impression: More moodiness, like it better than the first track. The vocals could be a bit stronger, since they seem to lose out to the guitar.
Conclusion: Still a bit monotonous.., more variations would be nice
Hieronymus Fox
Whereas this reminds me a little too much of Radiohead this song has potential after some post producion and…. work more on the vocals.
frenchy!
Yep, the grunge thing is in full effect.

Conclusion
FrEg
It’s a demo, so rough takes are okay. Like the themes for the songs but they do need more variation/depth/enhancements.
Hieronymus Fox
First off, I have to be honest in saying this type of music isn’t really my cup of tea. (which is why I asked him — frenchy!)
So that’s why I’m not too thrilled about it all.
frenchy!
Loved the first track, like the style, wondering how the music and the artist will evolve.
Well, there it is.. It’s all very experimental and new for me, this way of reviewing (the layout’s not working for me). I’ve had to edit/cut some comments because they were too long or possible a bit too harsh ;). And I tried to keep in mind that this artist isn’t on the mainstream pop charts earning big bucks and already into his second marriage with another soon-to-be-has-been model wannebe-serious-actress. So maybe soon, this really will happen and I can tell everyone that I reviewed his work before he became famous, heheh..
Seriously, lemme know what you think about the tracks and the review..

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So, after quite a struggle with plugins and Feedburner, I just set up my feeds in a way that kinda covers what I want to achieve: stopping sploggers from retrieving my content too easily. As told in previous posts on this subject, I don’t like the idea of people making money off of my content while I specifically haven’t agreed to such use of my content.

The IntarWub’s still buzzing about the bitacle thing and there’s quite some useful stuff on how to do something about sploggers to be found. Also, check out Lorelle’s take on the subject.

Here’s a message from the true warriors against bitacle:



In the meantime, I’m changing my feeds to summary excerpts, sorry about that.. And: los gente de bitacle son ijos de puta (I like to say these things in a language that people understand )

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