Digable Planets - Blowout Comb - 1994 - Pendulum Records
Digable Planets' sophomore album is the true definition of a hidden gem. After the success of their debut thanks to the hit single "The Rebirth Of Slick," the group relocated from Philadelphia to Brooklyn in an attempt to surround themselves with the sound of New York hip hop and infuse it further into their jazz-hip hop blend. Whereas the first album heavily sampled classic jazz tunes, Blowout Comb supplements the samples with a lot more live instrumentation giving the music a much more open feel. Their new homebase (and stature) also allowed them to hook up with other like-minded rappers, which leads to some fantastic cameos by Guru, Jeru The Damaja, and Jazzy Joyce. There is so much standout material here that it's hard to really call much of it "standout," which is a complement. It's such a finely crafted record from beginning to end - with a true sense that they were creating a whole rather than just recording songs and grouping them together haphazardly. For example, the second song "Black Ego," stretches out comfortably at seven minutes, never wearing out its welcome but instead feeling like a soulful jam session. There's never a feeling of "let's get on with it! This is only the second song!" Instead it just makes you want to relax deeper into your chair and get onboard with the journey ahead. "Borough Check" opens with a (possibly?) live intro of DP and Guru and then transitions into a piece that heavily samples Roy Ayers' "We Live In Brooklyn Baby." The Jeru duet "Graffiti" is just as interesting with its live vibes. Later "K.B.'s Alley" grooves a bit on the same beat that will later reveal itself in full form as "9th Wonder," perhaps DP's best single of all time. And then the album closes out with another seven-minute track, the wonderful "For Corners" which would be a great closer with its first instrumental half alone. All in all this is a brilliant album that needs to be recognized far more than it is. It's' just a shame that it took the group imploding to create such a masterpiece.
EDIT: and...
The Roots - The Tipping Point - 2004 - Geffen Records
After 2002's Phrenology it seems as though The Roots were unsure of where to go next. They knew they wanted to do something different, but what? The answer came together natural: go back to basics. The jam sessions that bred The Tipping Point (as usual, outlined extensively in the liner notes by Questlove) seemed to point to a desire to get back to making music the way The Roots did in the early days. Perhaps that's why this album is their most streamlined in years. When's the last time you saw a major label rap album with a mere ten songs on the tracklisting? But oh what a focused ten tracks they are. This is a lean album... and technically it has a couple of bonus songs hidden at the end. It's also an album that pays serious respect to the Golden Age. Opener "Star," is built over a sampling of Sly Stone's "Everyone Is A Star," complete with Sly himself crooning in the background, and then evolves into an almost shapeless jam session that will eventually mirror the loose closing track "Why (What's Going On?)" which of course could be seen as a titular reference to Marvin Gaye. However most of what's in between these bookends is a love for 80's and 90's hip hop. Not only the hip hop that made Questlove and Black Thought want to start a band to begin with, but ultimately the same hip hop that they would be early peers with as well. "Guns Are Drawn" for instance is reminiscent of mid-90's beats built on simple keyboard stabs (Sadat X's "The Lump Lump" comes to mind for one). "Stay Cool" purposely samples the same Al Hirt beat that was the foundation for the classic De La Soul single "Ego Trippin' Part 2." The track "Web" goes back even further to the very beginning of The Roots as a band - with just Black Thought rhyming intensely and Questlove almost struggling to keep pace. It's an amazing (though brief) performance that was attempted with "Thought @ Work" on Things Fall Apart but sounds even more developed here. However the best homage here - and one that may be missed by many listeners is on "Boom!" when Black Thought does an entire verse personations of two of his own heroes - Big Daddy Kane and Kool G. Rap. This is really an incredible vocal performance that needs to be heard to be believed. While The Tipping Point is probably mostly remembered by its lone single (and weakest album cut) "Don't Say Nuthin'," (produced by ex-Root, Scott Storch!) that's a total shame. This is really The Roots at their most focused and actually a very easily approachable intro for anyone that's not already a fan.
EDIT: ok, one more...
Insane Clown Posse - The Amazing Jeckel Brothers - 1999 - Island
ICP is one of those groups that people love to hate. And in the past I've actually argued that they have a certain niche they fill, not unlike an entertaining B-movie. I've also argued that even if they're not the most talented MC's (though to be fair there are certainly worse), they are indeed competent entertainers. However, The Amazing Jeckel Brothers does nothing to back up my claims. If this were the first ICP album I had ever heard, I'd probably side with the haters as well. Jeckel is the follow-up to the rather successful Great Milenko, and as such seems to find the clowns attempting to somehow one-up themselves. So what we get here is more of the same... only less thought out. For instance "I Want My Shit" starts off a pretty straight forward rap song, but is then completely derailed by a horribly obnoxious screaming nu-metal chorus. It's both jarring and idiotic. The album sounds rushed in that sense that not much comes across like fully finished ideas. Oh sure we've got those creepy carnival instrumentals from Mike E. Clark throughout, but even his work suffers on this record where in the past he's generally been the one responsible for ICP's best tracks. The single "Fuck The World," is at least funny to hear once, as it's the aural equivalent of that episode of South Park where they use the word "shit" 200 times. The cameos by Snoop and ODB do very little to help, though "The Shaggy Show" uses Snoop as a character in their world which is at least an interesting idea. Strangely, the one track that seems to stand out here is "Another Love Song," which samples Beck's "Jackass," (or Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" depending how you want to look at it) and is a love song murder fantasy that is at least a reminder of the kind of silly satire that ICP can pull off when they're not on autopilot.
EDIT: Last one for the night...
Beastie Boys - Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds Of Science - 1999 - Grand Royal
This collection is really frustrating to me. As a huge fan of the Beasties, I feel like this should be the greatest compilation ever. But it really just doesn't sit well to me as a cohesive whole. I think perhaps if it were a single disc, it could have been a lot tighter. But I'm always personally thrown off by compilations that don't either have some sort of theme, or at least present themselves chronologically. Maybe if disc one had been all the singles and disc two all the deeper cuts it would have worked better for me. Instead we have a pretty crazy package that includes well known singles, remixes, b-sides, and unreleased tracks (including a couple from the unreleased Country Mike album). To be sure, there's a lot of good stuff here. It's just the format that makes it one I don't reach for often. Perhaps part of the problem for me is that the albums proper are just so good, that's easier to feel like listening to a specific one instead. Though it might sound funny to say, even as I say all this I'd still consider The Sounds Of Science to be totally necessary for any fan of the group. The fact is that there are enough rarities here to make it worth owning even if you already have all the individual albums. Obviously the single "Alive" is included here, but tracks like the previously unreleased "Live Wire," Fatboy Slim's remix of "Body Movin'," or the video version of "Three MC's And One DJ" all make this worth picking up. In fact, it makes me hope that we'll eventually see a full release (or two, or three...) of nothing but rare and unreleased Beasties material. Although ironically I think I'd suggest this to fans even more so for the liner notes that have nice long pieces written about each track. In a sense, these stories are the part that will really anthologize these songs more successfully than the compilation did by itself.
EDIT: fuck it, I lied...
Ghostface - The Pretty Toney Album - 2004 - Def Jam
After the poorly handled Bulletproof Wallets it's no surprise that Ghostface would switch to a new label. His Def Jam debut is phenomenal. Though there's enough high quality cutting room floor material to fill several more albums, everything he kept is top notch. Right from the beginning you can sense that Ghost (who for some reason dropped the 'Killah' for this release) is having a blast just cutting loose being himself. The intro finds interviewers asking him a bunch of hilarious questions ("how has the game changed since you revealed your face?" - total fan service), and then leads into the outstanding "Biscuits" produced by True Master. Other production credits are varied, with RZA showing up only twice. But somehow that works on this record much in the same way the variety of producers made Jay-Z's The Black Album so exciting. And speaking of Jay-Z, the cover of The Pretty Toney Album is actually taken from the concert that Fade To Black was filmed at. And perhaps there's a message there. Ghost, on stage at Madison Square Garden, surrounded by hip hop legends and peers. Indeed this is really Ghostface at the top of his game - liberated from Epic and seemingly invigorated to really be the creative weirdo that he is. In fact he handles production on two of the songs here himself. "Holla" is a wistful soul ballad not unlike his "All That I Got Is You," that uses "La La Means I Love You" as a backing track. But his production for "Save Me Dear" is the real standout. Soulful, triumph horns blare as Ghost professes his love as only he could ("I'ma sell my guns and with the cash I'ma take you to Vegas"). Elsewhere Ghost teams up with members of D-Block on both "Metal Lungies," and the frantic "Run" which features a beat that actually uses sirens to chase the vocalists. Interestingly, none of the guest shots on this album are from Wu-Tang members. Though that may seem weird, it helps make this feel like the first time Ghost truly went solo outside of the Clan, and in a lot of ways makes it feel like one of his most unique albums. Don't get me wrong, it's flawed for sure. That cover art looks pretty cheap I suppose. The single "Tush" with Missy Elliott comes across as pretty silly. There's a few more skits than necessary (though they tend to be short and amusing, in fairness). But for all its faults, this is a brilliant album. It's weird, funny, personal, and downright impressive. It is Ghostface at some of his most creative without going off the deep end and completely losing the listener. It is in my opinion an often overlooked modern classic.
