Tag: music

audio review : 2000 ( album ) … Grand Puba

audio review : 2000 ( album ) ... Grand Puba

I don’t know why Grand Puba’s so obsessed with the year 2000; that concept would’ve made a lot more sense if this were released that year or just prior; but he seems to be stuck in the future. The beats; raw boom-bap produced by the likes of Mark Spark and Minnesota; are anything but. They’re also the one good thing about the album.

Puba’s often trying to amuse; cracking jokes and interpolating old soul songs into his raps; but his sense of humor is usually more corny than funny and his skills aren’t Special enough to make up for it. Still the set is a decent listen if only for the aforementioned beats, the best of which include I Like It, Don’t Waste My Time and Change Gonna Come.

my rating : 3 of 5

1995

audio review : Funplex ( album ) … The B-52s

audio review : Funplex ( album ) ... The B-52s

They got the title right. This album, which marks the return of The B-52s, including Cindy Wilson, after a long hiatus, is all about Fun. That comes mostly in the form of Dancing and Partying, though wacky wordplay at times make for sexually suggestive undertones. “There’s a G-spot,” Fred Schneider announces, “Pull the car over!”

That car might as well be a Mercury Lynx as the band, with the help of New producer Steve Osbourne, rocks out in 1980s retro fashion. The best parts are some of the catchy, at times refreshingly unconventional, hooks they stumble across along the way. The ones on Eyes Wide Open and Juliet Of The Spirits are particularly pleasing.

my rating : 3 of 5

2008

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