Tag: music

audio review : Done By The Forces Of Nature ( album ) … Jungle Brothers

audio review : Done By The Forces Of Nature ( album ) ... Jungle Brothers

“I’ll walk a mile for a funky beat,” Mike G says on the title song, but I think these brothers would rather swing from the trees. It’s those funky beats in either case; mostly modern hip-hop but sometimes 1970s-style disco, acid jazz and African tribal; that make this album a standout. Listen to the groove of the starter song for example; a space jam entitled Beyond This World; and try not to dance to it.

If there’s a misstep, it’s that the production, beatwise and vocally, is so experimental and sporadic that sometimes the Brothers stop rapping and stumble across short breakdowns that would’ve been better-off looped to lace the entire song around. The a cappella jingles of Beads On A Strings, the piano scratch ending of Comin Through and the spirited peak of Good Newz Comin are all prime examples.

That’s a minor complaint though. The J Beez; a rap group that seem to have more collective talent than A Tribe Called Quest and maybe even De La Soul; provide ample entertainment for your listening pleasure. Whether or not you agree with their Afrocentric philosophies and History lessons, they’re a likable bunch with fun (girl-chasing) personalities and plenty of good music to shake your Nature to.

my rating : 4 of 5

1989

audio review : The Outsiders … REM ( featuring Q-Tip )

The best part is when Q-Tip raps, but it’s not because of Q-Tip. His verse, which reads like a poem, is neither here nor there. What makes that part standout is the soothing tranquility of the background music, which, along with some urging ad-libs from singer Michael Stipe, is just beautiful enough to save the song.

my rating : 4 of 5

2004

audio review : Around The Sun ( album ) ... REM

audio review : Departure ( album ) … Bass 305

audio review : Departure ( album ) ... Bass 305

Bass 305 may be starting to Depart from their musical roots, but it’s not enough to justify such a dramatic album title. The only signature sounds they’ve completely abandoned are the corny hip-hop samples I was hoping they’d rid themselves of long ago and the robotic voices I was hoping they’d never mute.

Even the audiologist returns on Tones; one of the album’s two best songs and previously released on Volume Two of the Bass Explosion series. There are also samples from Nasa space missions, though the one used as the album’s Introduction; an astronaut simply counting down and blasting off; reeks of laziness.

Laziness seems to play a major part of this album. The mastering is flawed; some songs sound louder than others; and some tracks, namely Industrial Computer and the Cyber Bass Woofer Test; the latter of which should’ve actually served as the background to a proper Introduction; sound like filler.

Mark Watson; Magic Mark from the Bass Explosion series; plays the saxophone on a few jazz songs, including an Electro (filler) version of Ocean Dance, but they sound disappointingly out of place on a Bass 305 album. Cyber Travel, which launches the album via the aforementioned Apollo blast, sounds about right.

305.1, on which the audiologist from Tones gives a lecture about loudspeakers, is a standout. The angelic chorus conjures Does Life Exist. It would be the album’s best song if not for the way it rhapsodizes itself two thirds in. China Doll and Dominican Moondance, despite their traveling titles, go nowhere.

my rating : 3 of 5

1995