Category: reviews

video review : Jan Błachowicz versus Israel Adesanya at UFC 259

video review : Jan Błachowicz versus Israel Adesanya at UFC 259

Even if this were a three-round fight, I’d give Jan Błachowicz a close decision victory. Israel Adesanya seems a little off (slow/hesitant) here, probably because he’s fighting in a higher weight division than normal. The final two rounds, in which Błachowicz takes him down and holds him there till the ends, just reinforces it.

I thought Adesanya would win this, but I also thought it was a bad idea to risk his undefeated streak for the Polish powerhouse. Doing it and potentially becoming double champ for Jon Jones would’ve made a lot more sense. Now that epic showdown, one of the most anticipated in UFC history, seems a lot less competitive.

my rating : 3 of 5

2021

video review : Amanda Nunes versus Megan Anderson at UFC 259

video review : Amanda Nunes versus Megan Anderson at UFC 259

There’s a video of Megan Anderson looking like the walking dead when she first arrived at the Apex arena; not in a sinister Undertaker kind of way but the way a death row inmate might look on the last day of her stay. The method of execution? A one-woman firing squad.

“Amanda hits so damn hard,” Joe Rogan observes; Daniel Cormier also provides funny commentary; as the purported WMMA “goat”; I still don’t know if I’d put her above Cris Cyborg; goes on to win her easiest fight yet. Ronda Rousey at least landed a punch before her pummeling.

my rating : 4 of 5

2021

audio review : Generation Efx ( album ) … Das Efx

audio review : Generation Efx ( album ) ... Das Efx

The Intro; a radio station bit featuring a sample of Mic Checka; might suggest Das Efx is stuck in the past, but I wish they were. Their first album at least made you Klap Ya Handz in applause to the verses. This one, easily their worst, is sewer-shitty in spots; namely during the hooks, too many of which consist of banal (wack) rap chants.

my rating : 2 of 5

1998

audio review : Hold It Down ( album ) … Das Efx

audio review : Hold It Down ( album ) ... Das Efx

One of the best songs here is Microphone Master on which Das Efx brag about their “super rhyme” skills, but they’re bombastic claims. Despite the album title, in the two years since committing Straight Up Sewaside, they basically let It go.

They still go Diggedy, but Seriously lacking is the showcase of wordplay they introduced themselves to the world with. There are clever bars here and there, but it’s been a steady album-to-album degression. This is the one with the best beats though.

my rating : 3 of 5

1995

audio review : Straight Up Sewaside ( album ) … Das Efx

audio review : Straight Up Sewaside ( album ) ... Das Efx

If you’re wondering why they altered their style, listen to the Interview. They were tired of rappers imitating, which is almost never a good reason to abandon the one trait that made you so influential in the first place. While the new style isn’t as innovative or amusing, you’ll still have a hard time finding two better MCs on ground level.

These beats are hard and grimy, sometimes to the point of dullness, but the obvious highlights on a Das Efx album are the verses, which they deliver with more funny pop culture references and clever wordplay. Dre, whose Krazy flow suddenly emerges as the more impressive of the two, goes especially bonkers on track 4, so Check It Out.

my rating : 3 of 5

1993

audio review : Dead Serious ( album ) … Das Efx

audio review : Dead Serious ( album ) ... Das Efx

The one Serious flaw on this album is that the original (inferior) version of its first single; They Want Efx; is included instead of the Remix, which should’ve officially replaced it. The only real difference is the beat, but the latter sounds a lot better.

As is, Dead Serious, which represents the debut of a Brooklyn rap duo skilled with what may be the most clever and unique wordplay ever, starts off with a bang. Mic Checka is fun. The rest of the set is only interesting during the verses.

my rating : 3 of 5

1992

One For The Road ( story ) … Stephen King

The title refers to the flask of brandy a man named Booth brings along as he, his friend Tookey and a stranger named Lumley venture out into a winter blizzard to rescue Lumley’s wife and daughter. They’re stranded in his car, stuck in the snow, “six miles south” of Tookey’s Bar.

This is a tale, straight-forward but for a funny flashback about a drunken pulp truck driver, that might’ve been even more engrossing than it is if it’s concept weren’t buried in vampiric folklore. The plot rolls along a path of realism until the end, where it starts to get silly.

my rating : 4 of 5

1977

review : Night Shift ( book ) ... Stephen King

video review : Maycee Barber versus Alexa Grasso at UFC 258

video review : Maycee Barber versus Alexa Grasso at UFC 258

This is the UFC 258 bout I anticipated the most and it doesn’t disappoint. I was rooting for Alexa Grasso but would’ve bet on Maycee Barber, partly because of her confidence. She said she’d become the youngest champ in The UFC, but apparently predicting The Future isn’t one of her skill sets.

She wins Round 3; Joe Rogan commends her for that comeback effort; and a 5-rounder might’ve went her way, but Alexa Grasso takes the first two. I like watching her (Grasso) fight; she’s so cute and reserved; and she seems to be getting better. Who would’ve thought she’d dominate on the ground?

my rating : 4 of 5

2021

audio review : Courage ( song ) … Lianne La Havas

Lianne is lonely, “terribly lonely”; bewitched with memories of a past romance. She still talks with that special someone occasionally, but “I lose my head every time we speak, so I sing instead all of these melodies.”

She describes her feelings of desolation with the metaphor of being high up on some sort of cliff, afraid to climb down, which is a weird comparison, but it’s a nice song, thanks mostly to her aforementioned vocal melodies.

my rating : 4 of 5

2020

audio review : Lianne La Havas ( album ) ... Lianne La Havas

audio review : Mad Izm ( song ) … KRS-One + Channel Live

Izm is a New York/Jersey street term for marijuana, but, as far as Channel Live and KRS-One are concerned, smoking it seems to also be a metaphor for showcasing your rap skills. With that, The Blastmaster easily outsparks his pupils over a boom-bap beat he apparently produced himself. “Switch me; mix me; somebody get me,” he warns, “Don’t let me rip out my clothes like Bill Bixby.”

my rating : 4 of 5

1994

audio review : Enough ( song ) … Q-Tip ( featuring Jarobi White )

This song would be better if the music didn’t change during the chorus, which makes for a frustrating listen when you’re trying to vibe to the main beat. It’s like going limp during sex with the girl you rhetorically asked to make “nut”.

Q-Tip’s charismatic verse is the best part, though I would’ve put it before an extended sixteen-bar version of Jarobi White’s to balance things out. I also like the Michael Jackson ad-lib someone (Q-Tip?) does forty-five seconds in.

my rating : 3 of 5

2016

audio review : We Got It From Here [ Thank You 4 Your Service ] ( album ) ... A Tribe Called Quest

video review : Rust Creek

video review : Rust Creek

Rust Creek may not be as scary as Wolf Creek for a girl stranded away from home, thanks in part to a friendly meth cook she meets along the way, but it’s still bad. College senior Sawyer has two; make that three; killers after her; one of which is sworn to protect.

The movie is good at the beginning, but once the suspense lets up; I was hoping she’d be alone in the woods for most of it; it loses its way. It returns near the end; muddy footprints are the cue; but by then, the believability of the plot has been compromised.

my rating : 3 of 5

2019