Tag: music

audio review : On The House ( mixtape ) … Slaughterhouse

On The House ( mixtape ) ... Slaughterhouse

The concept of this set was doomed from the beginning. It doesn’t really make sense to promote an album with an album, even when that promo album is only a so-called mixtape, especially when it’s composed of new songs that aren’t included on the album its promoting, because it only distracts from what it’s supposed to focus your attention on. The idea is that, while you have to pay for the official album, this one is On The House, but the official release date of Our House comes just days after this one. If this one is better, it will overshadow it. If it’s worse, it will put a damper on any anticipation the album had going for it. It’s not good promotion either way.

That said, every member of Slaughterhouse is a skillful rapper. Even their weakest link; Joell Ortiz; can be surprisingly impressive at times. He outshines Royce Da 5-9; my pick for the best rapper of the four, though this set, which has him favoring a gay sing-songy flow over a straight one, doesn’t really reflect that; on Truth Or Truth, which comes across as a 14-minute therapy session. Joe Budden also shines there, though he’s missing in action on a few of these songs. The best ones are generally the ones with the best hooks; namely Sucka MCs, Gone and Coming Home; but even the worse ones have at least a few impressive bars scattered here and there.

my rating : 3 of 5

2012

a technical analysis of my Love Crush song

The effect on the bass isn’t a preset filter. It’s the sound of actual distortion. I had the gain (volume) up too loud, perhaps by mistake, liked what I heard and decided to keep it like that. It sounds like a real bass guitar.

The melody of the orgel; the music box sound; doesn’t really match the bass. I think it’s generally lame to stack melodies like that, so, while they’re mostly synced, if you listen closely, you can hear a subtle difference.

The song takes place in the daytime, when “the sky is blue”, so I didn’t want to add any fancy high hats or ticks. I started with lo-fi drums, but the sound needed more clarity. The crisp distorted drum effect worked perfectly.

As for the vocals, Les wasn’t supposed to be on it. Me and Randy had wanted to feature him on a song for a while and he just happened to drop by the day Randy was set to do his verse, so we took advantage of the opportunity.

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video review : You’re The One [ In Concert ] ( concert ) … Paul Simon

You're The One [ In Concert ] ( concert ) ... Paul Simon

Old Paul Simon stands front and center, under a baseball cap, in a shirt with a cross on it, looking modest. Perhaps it’s because he knows that it’s not really him but his music that is the star of the show. He’s composed some great songs over the years and some of them find their way here, despite the off-putting set title, which falsely suggests that it’s primarily a concert of songs from his new album.

He does perform six songs from You’re The One, including the heartbreak anthem title track, but most of the songs he sings are the ones the world already knows and loves. And the backing music often sounds even better than the original album versions, thanks to his band, which at one point has master drummer Steve Gadd totally nailing the complex marching beat of Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover.

That song fuses into a Fender Rhodes jazz session at the end, but funky instrumental breakdowns aren’t uncommon during this show, which is actually a mesh of two recent (2000) shows performed at The Olympia Hall in Paris. It would’ve been better to stick to one show, yes, but Paul Simon and his crew are wearing the same clothes, so you won’t notice unless you’re comparing shots of the audience.

my rating : 4 of 5

2001