Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: Visioneers ||
Album Title: Dirty Old Hip Hop
Year: 2006

Excellent grooviness..

How I Got Into This Music
I’ve been enjoying 4hero and Marc Mac’s Chess Cadet All Stars for about a year now. This album’s another of Marc Mac’s projects and I just had to listen to it..

Google Search for reviews of this album || Album details at Artistdirect.com || || Discogs ||

Tracks that got my attention:
Replay ft. Voice
Mellowness taking the listener on a flashback trip through the history of quality rap musicians and producers like A Tribe Called Quest, Jazzy Jeff, Gangstarr and The Pharcyde. Love the smooth vocals by Voice.

Runnin’
Never thought people would be so smitten with the original version by The Pharcyde, but I ain’t complaining! I remember hearing the intro of this version with Hieronymus Fox and we were both jumping like happy kids; when we noticed it was an instrumental version, we stopped acting silly.. for about thirty seconds

The World Is Yours
Laidback bass and keyboards, catchy loops. Love the bass solo, but not that much else happening.

Funk Box ft. Capitol A
Familiar vocals by Capitol A, who also worked with Jazzanova. Basic quality, groove and funkiness.

It’s Simple
A very relaxed version of Simple Folk, a track from Marc Mac’s project from yesteryears, The Chess Cadet All Stars.
More jazzy influences, the flute working some nice magic in the background with the guitar, and that bass? Love it.

Dirty Old Bossa Nova
Damn, got me scanning all my CD’s from A Tribe Called Quest, grmbl.. Hold on.. Nope, I give up, can’t find it, argh!
Back to the track itself: lovely bossa groove!

Run For Cover
Yep, pure gold. Great way of using a central theme in the track, and then the sudden double tempo variant at the end? Great stuff!

55 Dollars
Oooooh.. Flashback to all those TV series from the seventies. Love the horns..

Paul’s Guitar Story
Hmmm, jazz guitar track, sounds nice, just a bit too bland for my taste.

Days Gone By (Egyptology)
Much better guitar work on this track. The track sounds a bit like Jill Scott’s Slowly Surely, I’m sure that’s intentional since they’ve worked with eachother in the past on Jill’s Experience album.

Conclusion
I think my love for previous work by Marc Mac and 4hero has kinda spoilt me a bit. Dirty Old Hip Hop is a great album and very tightly produced too. But… For me, there’s not a lot of new things happening. That’s why this album’s not one of my Favorites. Still very curious to hear the remix version called Dirty Old Remixes!

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General Description
Artist/Band: DJ Jazzy Jeff
Album Title: The Soul Mixtape
Year: 2005

Masterful, sexy and Soul-To-The-Max!
 
How I Got Into This Music
Checking out the new releases, I came across this album and thought: “Hold on!! Check it out!! Now!!!”
Why? Because purely by chance I discovered that DJ Jazzy Jeff is more than the silent partner of Will Smith in the old hip-hop act and he’s definitely more than the TV-character that gets thrown out the house for every faux pas comment (although he really had some great lines, heheh..)
I was lucky enough to listen to the Masters At Work project “Nuyorican Soul” and DJ Jazzy Jeff performed on one of the tracks: my mind exploded with the unbelievable sample and scratch work displayed! That’s why he always stayed on my radar and that’s why I got me this album!

Tracks that got my attention:

Beautiful Lady - Eijay
Groovy Nu Soul, very strong D’Angelo feel, but listen, boys and girls, Nu Soul was the back-to-the-roots approach to the blessed musical genre called Soul and R&B. Repairing all the damage done by the crapola R&B stuff from the nineties, thank you very much (rant ends here).
Anyways, great track!

Build a Fire - Michael Bohannon
Another excellent track with crazy hi-hat action all over the place!

Daydreamin - Kelli Sae
Incredible loop and vocals! Talented ex-Incognito singer Kelli Sae sets the tone for a groove on.. You’ll be having this track ghosting your mind for weeks..

Endlessly - LaSonya Gunter
It’s official: I’m getting old.. can’t remember what song this track reminds me of, sigh.. What’s next, special diapers and lil’ blue pills that can make you go blind? Heh, bring it on!
Great song, though..

Last Train - Ladybug Mecca feat. Martin Luther
The Perfect Song: groovy catchy bass, groovy catchy chorus, great vocals and summer feeling on a rainy day! Rap vocals remind me of Monie Love’s style, even using a kinda Native Tongues kinda rap pacing.

Amanda Blue - Demien
This song pisses me off.. I can’t find anything about this artist, Demien.. I can’t get this song out of my head even after three successfull lobotomies.
Yep, it does sound like a Prince copy and it’s not a bad one at that. It just triggers so many things in my mind that I can’t ignore it on its own merits..

What You Say - AKA Soulo
Using a vocal style similar to Mr. Curtis Mayfield can get you in serious trouble in my book: it’s the reason why I quit listening to Copycat Nr.1 Lenny Kravitz on his second album.
But somehow this track’s still working for me, weird..

Erotic Dreams - Demien
Just like the other song by this artist, I kinda get heavily frustrated, coz I seriously wish I could find me a dance floor to play this track, but the tempo seems a bit too slow for it. Sigh.. Maybe one day.. Excellent track!

Right Here - DJ Mitsu feat. Dwele
Ooooooooooo.. MAN!
This is the “turn off the lights and let’s get nasty, baby” track of the year! Cold showers, Maggy Thatcher, nothing can take away the feeling!

No Tears - Pete Rock feat. Leela James
Can you imagine how I feel when I found out Leela James’ concert was sold out? Wanna see a grown man cry?
Great voice and funky bass.

Broken Dreamz - DJ Jazzy Jeff feat. V
Ouch! Who’s this guy, V? Keep your radar primed for this artist. DJ Jazzy Jeff works his stuff to produce a highly enjoyable track.

Black SolSista - Valencia Robinson
Imagine being in the producer’s booth listening to just her vocals..

Be Thankful - Omar and Angie Stone
Both artists are the best of their trade and still this song doesn’t deliver. Not so great cover of the alltime classic song by William De Vaughn.

She Wants 2 Be - DJ Jazzy Jeff feat. V
Okay, accept the Stevie Wonder sound-alike factor, just let it go.. Fine, now listen to the frigging track!! Man, I can’t be driving my car while playing this song coz I’ll be swaying all across the highway lanes with this blissful smile on my face.. And no judge would sentence me!
Uhm.. In no way am I promoting reckless driving on any kind of road or highway, so bugger off.. Heheh..

Conclusion
Didn’t expect to review almost all of the tracks, but I kinda got caught off guard with this album in more than one way.
It’s a mixtape, don’t know how much Jazzy Jeff remixed the individual tracks, just know he sure as hell has an excellent taste in selecting the best of the best concerning soul and soft dance music.
This helps putting the SOUL back into uhm.. SOUL!
Can’t give it a five out of five coz.. well.. hold on.. why not? It’s as good as Ween’s last album, right? So? Okay..

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