Animal Disco is Back!! That’s right folks, The epic midnight indie club that brought you bands such as ASIWYFA, General Fiasco, Not Squares, Duke Special, Cashier No.9, Ram’s Pocket Radio, Ham Sandwich, A Plastic Rose, Wonder Villains, Lafaro and loads more, are at it again! This time, Animal Disco will mix things up a tad, bringing the great party people of Belfast a one off party in Voodoo on October 20th with live performances from Ed Zealous / Go Wolf and DJ sets by Eatenbybears / Animal Disco dj’s. Expect Light shows, lazers, visuals and a Tropical Indie Electro Dance Party!! We are very excited!
Animal Disco presents
ED ZEALOUS
Go Wolf
Eatenbybears DJ’s
Saturday October 20th 2012
Voodoo Belfast
10pm / £5
Tickets available at www.ticketleap.com
Four-piece Ed Zealous decided Belfast was the perfect breeding ground for their very own brand of disorder and have been locked away creating, to quote Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, “a slice of awesome electro that would fizz in your mouth if you took a bite”. With their blend of big kick drums, synthesiser chaos and erratic vocals they’re looking to set the live circuit alight when they set out in full force in October. They’ve just finished recording their debut album with producer Eliot James who’s credits include fellow Irishmen Two Door Cinema Club, plus Bloc Party and Mark Ronson. Having just finished playing a few gigs off the beaten track, Ed Zealous, who are currently working on finalizing release dates for both their album and its singles, are ready to take Belfast by the horns!
Watch the video for ‘Diamonds For Eyes’ and download a free copy of the track via their Bandcamp page http://edzealous.bandcamp.com/
Ed Zealous play Animal Disco with support from Go Wolf in Voodoo on
Saturday October 20th, tickets are £5 and available at www.ticketleap.com
Check out the music video to The Jar Family’s upcoming single, Broken Minded.
The Jar Family release Broken Minded on August 6th.
Vigo Thieves are gearing up to release a brand new single, Forever.
To tease their fans, and generally drum up excitement, they’ve released this trailer for the single, starring Jody Latham of Shameless and Eastenders fame. The full video is due for release on 28th August with the official single release slated for 10th September.
You can download their previous single, Heartbeats HERE, and you can also catch them on tour at the dates below:
Tour Dates
- 24/08 Ironwork, Inverness
- 12/09 Death2Disco, Notting Hill Arts Club
- 16/09 EH1 Live Festival, Edinburgh
- 22/09 Classic Grand, Glasgow
- 23/09 Ashton Crawl, Glasgow
Death Rattle are Helen and Chris Hamilton - an enigmatic, dark electro duo based in London. Their debut EP HE&I (âHe & Iâ) is due for release via Frontal Noize on October 15th 2012.
Much of the EP was written shortly after their previous alt grunge band - That Mouth - abruptly disbanded. In need of a completely fresh start, the pair followed a new direction musically, going away for a month to write and record something that reï¬eced their darkening and more melancholic tastes with the band citing influence from Depeche Mode’s Violater, Fever Ray and NIN. The resulting sound of Death Rattle’s debut is one that stands up strongly on its own.
From start to finish, HE&I sends shivers down your spine. Like a sensual futuristic android, Helen’s dark and droning vocal harmonies create a robotic feel to âThe Digâ with Chris’s beats akin to a mechanical heart thumping underneath - this is Death Rattleâs war cry and signature style. Increasing the tempo, âDo As You Pleaseâ follows perfectly with the bandâs bold, tribal-esque beats playing a big part once more behind Helen’s dark and evocative lyrics. Although the duo keep their signature beats and mesmerising vocals consistent, they present many more layers to unravel as the last three tracks unfold. âFixerâ is the dark, mutated lovechild of Sleigh Bells and Friendly Fires - beguiling and rebellious with an enticingly memorable chorus. âMouse Chorusâ slows the pace to a gentle hypnotic canter and their fifth and final track âSorry For Your Lossâ, seems the perfect end to such a mesmerising journey.
The video for ‘The Dig’ is available to watch on Death Rattle’s YouTube page.
You can also download ‘The Dig’ from Death Rattle’s Soundcloud page.
Helen and Chris are a mysterious duo, amalgamating their identities completely within their music and image - they are one unit with their imagery, videos and music working together symbiotically. It was this unique and bold outlook that caught the eyes and ears of European label Frontal Noize and after just two months of writing music together, Death Rattle were offered a deal. Since the signing, the band have been working hard on the live circuit playing Brainchild Festival (Reading), Swanfest (Ipswich), Via Ventosa Festival (Holland) as well as a gig held in an old prison in Leeuwarden, Holland.
Death Rattleâs first release HE&I, is a fascinating and daring debut and an exciting glimpse of whatâs in store as the pair prepare for a UK and European tour later this year and a debut album release in 2013.
Italian three-piece Pipers will release the exquisite track Ask Me For A Cigarette on 18th October 2012. The single encapsulates the bands new found folk sound - chiming piano, expertly picked acoustic guitars and heartfelt lyrics all knitted together by gorgeous strings, harmonies and skillful drumming.
The free track “Edge of Nowhere”, recorded in Naples and mixed and mastered at Magic Garden Recording Studios by Gavin Monaghan (Editors, Ocean Colour Scene, Scott Matthews), will be the precursor to Pipers single release in October and is a fine example of the quality that can be expected from the release of their second album next year.
Formed in 2007, Pipers have undergone a number of changes over the last few years. The band, comprised of Stefano de Stefano (vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica), Stefano ‘Stoo’ Bruno (bass, mandolin, backing vocals) and Marco Magnacca (drums, backing vocals), developed their sound from electric tinged indie pop to a more mature, layered alt-folk pop sound that has seen them capture the hearts and minds of a number of Britain’s most celebrated musicians and bands.
Despite having not even released their debut album, Pipers were personally chosen by Tim Burgess to support The Charlatans in Italy in 2008, and a support slot with Ian Brown swiftly followed. That summer, Pipers were invited to play at a number of UK festivals including Liverpool Sound City, Matthew Street Festival and Creamfields, as their star continued to rise. 2009 saw another support slot offered and gleefully accepted, this time with Starsailor, before the boys signed with indie label Materia Principale. In early 2010 Pipers debut album, No One But Us, was released to critical acclaim in Europe.
Having spent most of 2011 touring and rehearsing their new material, Pipers have returned with a refreshed sound more akin to the likes of Elliot Smith and Turin Brakes. The band also scored their first big support slot in the UK when they supported Turin Brakes in Northampton in June 2012.
Ask Me For A Cigarette will be available to download on 18th October 2012. To get a little taster of what Pipers are all about, download the free track “Edge of Nowhere” HERE.
Scotland’s The Maginot Band are due to release their debut EP, Peace and Quiet, via When You Awake Records on 10th September 2012.
Peace and Quiet EP straddles the line between retro-tinged wistfulness and a more modern indie sound akin to bands like The Maccabees and the Mystery Jets. The chiming guitars, rolling beats and upbeat keys of “Slow Down Sundial” is reminiscent of sixties greats The Band. However, with “Trees” and “Waking Up To Rain (Part 1)” the boys change tact with a slower, more thoughtful ballad as vocalist Jordan Shearer singing on the latter,”Abide by the rules that were set before us, like nobody moves and no one gets hurt, and nobody changes we’ll all stay the same”. “Waking Up To Rain (Part 2)” finishes the EP with a flourish as a cacophony of drums, vocals and piercing organ envelope the listener one last time, raising the tempo and the cheer.
“Slow Down Sundial” is available to stream and download HERE.
The video for “Slow Down Sundial” is available to watch now on The Maginot Band’s YouTube channel.
Having initially forming as Maydays, The Maginot Band, who hail from Caithness, have been writing music together on and off for the past decade. After numerous changes to their line-up, they finally settled as a six piece in late 2010. Consisting of Jordan Shearer (vocals), Calvin Wilson (bass, vocals), Kevin Swanson (guitar, Vocals), Jamie Swanson (guitar), Liam Whittles (organ, piano) and Darren Coghill (drums), as Maydays they gained some success supporting Field Music and Tango In The Attic as well as support from BBC Radio 1. However, as their musical direction started to mature, they decided a change of name was needed and The Maginot Band was born.
It’s been a busy introduction for The Maginot Band, who debuted their new material at the GoNorth Festival and an appearance at Belladrum Festival.
Peace and Quiet is due for release via When You Awake Records on September 10th.
SHIROCK, a band based in the cool US music hub of Nashville, is about to land on British soil. Their forthcoming dynamic debut album, Everything Burns, is filled with bold, massive songs that are fit for epic stadium greatness. With a body of strong UK releases planned, starting with the free taster track “You Keep Me Singing” from the US Deluxe version of Everything Burns, SHIROCK are ready to rock the last half of 2012 in style.
Produced by Jay Ruston, (The Donnas, Everclear, Matisyahu, and Cold War Kids), Everything Burns may sound grand and expansive, but underneath the soaring arrangements and sweeping melodies is a singer/songwriter album at heart with lyrics that are touchingly personal and socially pointed with a spiritual core.
Everything Burns, featuring 12 songs, is due to be released digitally in February 2013 via The Movement Group / Sony / RED / CEN. September 2012 will see the band’s debut UK single “New Solution” released, accompanied by their first UK tour.
Chuck Shirock, the band’s founder, front man and namesake grew up in the Philippines and Scotland before his family returned to the States to settle in Detroit, Michigan. Chuck developed a love of singing and performing as a child, and began writing and recording on his own as a young teenager.
Chuck met Pap toward the end of high school in 1999. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Pap grew up in a very musical family, and started playing classical piano at age 5. They soon discovered they shared many of the same passions and experiences, including their love of music, a broad worldview and a desire to have an impact on the people around them.
Soon after, the two began to collaborate as their relationship grew.
Chuck and Pap also run a Nashville based clothing line, Irock Clothing, which features shirts, jackets, bags, and accessories, rapidly selling out in every boutique that carries the range! As a model for a number of key fashion houses, Pap says “We’ve always been interested in fashion, and really wanted to make clothing that we would want to wear. Designing this collection has been another creative outlet and vehicle for the ideas in our music”. A new range of Irock Clothing is due out later this year.
“We are so excited about coming to the UK,” Chuck says - “We feel as though we’ve been building up to something, and we believe this year is it.”
Scotland’s The Maginot Band are due to release their debut EP, Peace and Quiet, via When You Awake Records on 10th September 2012.
Peace and Quiet EP straddles the line between retro-tinged wistfulness and a more modern indie sound akin to bands like The Maccabees and the Mystery Jets. The chiming guitars, rolling beats and upbeat keys of “Slow Down Sundial” is reminiscent of sixties greats The Band. However, with “Trees” and “Waking Up To Rain (Part 1)” the boys change tact with a slower, more thoughtful ballad as vocalist Jordan Shearer singing on the latter,”Abide by the rules that were set before us, like nobody moves and no one gets hurt, and nobody changes we’ll all stay the same”. “Waking Up To Rain (Part 2)” finishes the EP with a flourish as a cacophony of drums, vocals and piercing organ envelope the listener one last time, raising the tempo and the cheer.
Having initially forming as Maydays, The Maginot Band, who hail from Caithness, have been writing music together on and off for the past decade. After numerous changes to their line-up, they finally settled as a six piece in late 2010. Consisting of Jordan Shearer (vocals), Calvin Wilson (bass, vocals), Kevin Swanson (guitar, Vocals), Jamie Swanson (guitar), Liam Whittles (organ, piano) and Darren Coghill (drums), as Maydays they gained some success supporting Field Music and Tango In The Attic as well as support from BBC Radio 1. However, as their musical direction started to mature, they decided a change of name was needed and The Maginot Band was born.
It’s been a busy introduction for The Maginot Band, who debuted their new material at the GoNorth Festival and an appearance at Belladrum Festival.
Peace and Quiet is due for release via When You Awake Records on September 10th.
Surveying reviews both of Nasâs 10th solo album â the subject of this review â and of the litany of essays that have been hurriedly penned in response to much of his material over the past 18 years; the obvious two subjects which denote the rite of passage of being a Nas review are of course his drawn-out beef with contemporary Jay-Z (Read most thought-out reviews are you are told that Nas âthrivesâ in controversial circumstances, epitomised by the brilliant Stillmatic), and his pesky debut album, Illmatic. Â His debut release was in fact so good, that he is told in every review that he simply cannot compete with his early-20s self. It has worked to his advantage and to his detriment, as we know just how brilliant Nas can be, but consumers and reviewers appear to demand something like Illmatic over and over again, as if creating an LP which nine out of ten rappers could never create at the first time of asking isnât reason enough to respect Nasâs artistic license.
At any rate, Nasâs artistic purview has remained stubbornly within the realm of gangsta-storytelling and complex non-directed rapping. This is the reality faced by the authenticity Nas claimed for himself in his early years. Due to this, there is an obvious cringe exerted by listeners whenever he deviates from this in search of commercial acumen. When this is attempted, however good the song, (recent examples: âHeroâ, âMake the World Go Roundâ, and from this LP â âSummer on Smashâ) Nas temporarily sheds the very authenticity that is central to his artistic credibility; he simply cannot churn out radio-friendly tracks and retain his expressive cogency the way say, a Jay-Z can.
That being said, Life is Good appears to be the most complete realisation by Nas that this is the case. His rhymes feel new, and his old ideas are refreshingly recycled; but where this album transcends recent Nas LPs is in the beat selection. A cursive glance through production credits reveals No I.D.âs prominence (5 out of the 14 tracks) on the albumâs creation, which cannot be ignored. The No I.D. tracks certainly display an understanding of what it takes to cater to Nasâs flow. âLoco-Motiveâcould have appeared on a Nas album in the 1990s, âAccident Murderersâ â âYou ainât mean to murk him your gunâs a virgin,â manages to somehow allow Nas and Rick Ross to appear on the same track - despite the huge difference in style, âDaughtersâ â despite certain lyrical forays into territories which display his age in a light uncouth, âThis morning I got a call, nearly split my wig â The social network, said Nas go and get your kid,â â is still a mature track which is made possible by the production. (âBack Whenâ and âStayâ are also produced by No I.D. on the LP, and could deserve mentions in themselves.) Salaam Remi delivers some of the finest production credits for Nas since his tri-partite triumph in 2002 (âMade You Lookâ, âGet Downâ, and âI Canâ) with âA Queens Storyâ, âReach Outâ, and the mesmerizing âThe Donâ.
Thematically, as indicated above, Nas finds it difficult to settle into anything in particular. The curse of Illmatic was that, due to its huge success, Nas could no longer speak on the topics explored therein without appearing to self-plagiarise and thus, delegitimise, himself. In 2012 he still raps largely about the same topics as he did nearly 20 years ago â so it appears suspect when Nas raps about those who are, âtrapped in the 90s,â â has Nas himself escaped? (This point is of course coloured by the various themes which are dependent on the moment in which the album is created â such as his feud with Jay-Z, his motherâs death, and in this case, his divorce with Kelis.) More and more though, Nas appears to at least realise this, with mini-reflections thrown in to his poeticisms â âI shouldnât even be smiling, I should be angry and depressed. Iâve been rich longer than Iâve been broke â I confess.â âCan see myself at Presidential campaign dinners, but Iâm passing blunts among a bunch of gang members. When youâre too hood to be in them Hollywood circles, and youâre too rich to be in that hood that burped you.â
His reflections on his recent divorce with Kelis, most clearly on the closing track âBye Babyâ (the green dress held by Nas in the cover art is part of his ex-wifeâs wedding dress), are a rare glimpse on the personable Nas, the ex-husband Nas, and the (perhaps) slightly bitter Nas â all condensed within a few lines, âBye baby â I guess you know why I walked away. When we walked to the altar that was an awesome day. Did counseling â couldnât force me to stayâ¦Why do we mess it up, we was friends, we had it all. Reason you donât trust men â that was your daddyâs faultâ¦Said you caught him cheatinâ with mom and other woman, fuck that gotta do with us?â
Nasir Jones though, does remain the prime storyteller in rap music. No other artist is able to weave together such darkly picturesque landscapes of urban decay and social deprivation; and where Life is Good succeeds is when Jones delivers such hauntingly chilling epithetic American verse, âThe Queenâs courthouse right next to the cemetery â niggas rap sheets look like obituaries.â His consistency is a display of class, and this is best offering in a decade.
For The Smashing Pumpkins, work since their reformation has been somehow less interesting than the stories which led to this work. The creation of 2007âs Zeitgeist, the reunification of drummer Chamberlain and front man Corgan, and then the boringly predictable breakup which later ensued â have been met by long standing fans with a yawn and a shrug. Indeed, the rousing proclamation by Corgan of the âdeath of the albumâ oozed attention seeking, and it is not unfair to point out that Oceania, whilst forming an âalbum within an albumâ of the Pumpkins ambitious 44-song project Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, does represent the Corgan backtracking on what was an attempt at a lofty, predictive statement. It turns out Pumpkins fans prefer a collection of songs, rather than one at a time, strangely.
The truth is, 07âs Zeitgeist, whilst not exactly inspired, has staying power. Corgan is hugely adept and at album-creation, and it seemed a shame for him to abandon the process. If you do look through the Pumpkinâs discography, each represents a new idea, a new musical function. The drawn-out process of Teargarden does achieve this also, but less clearly, less fluently, and Oceania does help to give the project a clearer message, a clearer framework, a clearer style.
Musically, the Pumpkins sound achieved here is arguable the most coherent since Machina. Stylistically, it represents a huge shift in emphasis. Fans of Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness may find Oceania blasphemous for its very lack of density. It is quite clear, and consciously so, that the use of space is in much sharper focus on this effort. Itâs more modern, itâs adaptive. Jason Green was correct to point out though, that sometimes the perhaps subconscious yearning by Corgan to recreate the groundbreaking releases of the 90s descends into self-plagiarism. What is the beginning of opener Quasar but Cherub Rock; the chord-movement of The Celestials but Disarm? Etc.
New recruits Byrne, Fiorentino and Schroeder, forming ¾ of the outfit, do put in a sterling job. Byrneâs drumming is on point and sharp â it is no easy task to take up the position once held by Jimmy Chamberlain. There does indeed appear to be a broader diversity of writing influence within the tracks, retaining elements of classic Pumpkins grandeur, with pushes towards the type of minimalism which simply could not be found on most previous albums (a clear contrasting example would of course be Adore). A case in point? â The track Pale Horse never quite manages to âtake offâ, as it would usually be the route Corgan would go for; additional layers are not added save for some subtle and seamless sequestered harmonies.The three may have injected a youthfulness into Corganâs dictatorship of the Pumpkins, but where this album lacks most especially is in its dull lyricism. âThereâs a sun that shines,â Corgan points out to us, illuminatingly, on Panopticon. Billy then assures us that heâs, âAlways on your side,âon One Diamond, One Heart. Repeatedly. Good to know. Thereâs quite a lot of this, and it would be tiresome to list anymore.
Certain reviews have called this some sort of âgrandioseâ return of the Pumpkins, of Corgan, of the âSmashing Pumpkinsâ brand. Some have even gone as far as to situate this hour of music as âgroundbreakingâ, or of, seriously, the âfinestâ in over a decade â with even some Pink Floyd comparisons thrown in. This is a good album, which some impressive stylistic injections, and progressive musical evolution. Past that, though, it is no more than Pumpkins fan would expect. Released a decade ago, this maybe would have been a groundbreaking shift; released now, though, it appears more a fitting part of the zeitgeist; which is not Corganâs usual occupation.
First single from the new Band of Horses album “Mirage Rock” Coming in September!
Click here to pre-order: http://smarturl.it/miragerock
Pre-order now and get an instant download of “Knock Knock” + a pre-order exclusive track “Ego Nightmare”
Chances are, if you’ve heard Knifeworld, or even Cardiacs, you already know of you like them or not, and a review isn’t going to sway you. I’ve always found Knifeworld endlessly appealing, and they’re new EP, Clairvoyant Fortnight does not disappoint.
The EP is a lot more accessible than some of the band’s earlier releases. If this is your first dalliance with Knifeworld, I can easily see you falling in love. The self titled opening track sounds like a car crash of influences, moulding Sparks and Rush together to create Knifeworld’s distinctive carnival nightmare sound. I don’t mean to use car crash in the pejorative, it’s just the only way I can describe the wonderfully chaotic blend they have created.
[youtube id=”http://youtu.be/DaCJHoN_FZE” width=”450” height=”260”]
There’s always a lot going on in a Knifeworld EP, which is why it’s vital you don’t fall into the trap of listening to them passively. Pay attention, stay sharp and each new play through will bring its own rewards. There aren’t enough bands out there brave enough to create something this challenging, yet immeasurably listenable.
Clairvoyant Fortnightis released via Believers Roast and is available to buy from The Genepool.
The Murder Barn are a London based six piece, who work out of a Warholian inspired creative space which, incidentally, shares the same name as the band.
Fans of The Dresden Dolls and The Fiery Furnaces will find plenty to like in The Murder Barn. The quasi religious lyrics in America, with razor sharp cynicism backed up by a sumptuous string section and lone piano, create a truly beautiful song.
America / Harvest is available at the band’s official BandCamp.
[First posted 04/10/11]
The-Dream for many is the artist that you do not know youâve heard of, you donât know you listen to most days, and you donât know controls a good deal of the chart. His writing and production credentials include Beyonceâs Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It), Run the World (Girls), Chris Brownâs You, Justin Bieberâs Baby, Rihannaâs Umbrella â to name but a few of the more obvious choices. And whilst this list may serve for many readers as a list of tracks which catalogue the obvious deficiencies in chart material (though this is difficult to say for Beyonce), this is not the intended point. The-Dream finds it natural and easy to perform the musical and lyrical pirouette required to create chart hits, but when it comes to his own material â there is none of the apparent required âcompromiseâ undertaken in order to ensure sales and success. In fact, it is hard to see how Terius Nash (real name) could churn out an album of singles. His style is too raw, his production too experimental, his emotional content too intense.
Arguably and in my opinion, his material has improved threefold which each of his albums. His 2007 debut Love Hate being easily bettered by 2009âs Love vs Money. Both of which were transcended with the fabulous Love King. And whilst his fourth album, 1977 (his year of birth), doesnât directly fit into this chronology â in that it is released primarily under the name Terius Nash, and that it is a free album (donât call it a mixtape) without the word âLoveâ in the title â it explores new lyrical and thematic concepts which delve deeper and more fully into Teriusâs psyche and emotional complication and his love/hate relationships with himself and others. Terius is able to capture in inerrant and inevitable failure that we all can complicate our own lives with, how we cannot all live on a moral plain of superiority, that very human aspect of The-Dreamâs writing make him easier to connect with and easier to appreciate, âIf I say I love you you gonâ say you love me back, but the thing about that â is so far from the fact,â he churns on lead single Long Gone.
It is this openness, this vulnerability, this honesty, combined with impressive lyricism and a voice to match, which make Teriusâs talent hard to ignore. Still raw from his separation from Christina Milian not long after photos surfaced of Nash with another woman, album opener Wake Me When Itâs Over appears to be an exploration of the issue, filled both with a sense of regret and disappointment at both himself and other parties, âLife on the internet, I look like the devil / But you wearing the red dress, holding a shovel.â Who was the gravedigger, he asks blankly?
âIt was all downhill when you let them in our business/
Thought that I could save you then we died â in the abyss. /
Raise your hand if you was there, I. /
Raise your hand if you cared, I. /
But Iâll bite the bullet for you, love /
Cock back and pull it for you, love.â
Terius exposes the impossibility of there being a plain black and white in issues related to relationships â conflicting expectations and interpretation of issues makes this unachievable. âDo you want to fix it or dismiss baby, just let me know?â
And this is where his material shines.
Dream though, also attempts swagger and style. He may be obsessive, but he also knows how to appear vivacious, stylish and his own man:
âShe said, âDream do it to me like this, /
Why canât you do it to me like that?â /
For the last 48 months, you canât front, /
I put that ass on the map, /
See I created this sound, /
Yes sir I shut it down, /
Thereâs only one number one, /
These other niggas are my sons.â
The album though, is not without its flaws. Two songs in particular, Silly and Real appear out of place and not useful for the albums theme. The former is solely taken by the female artist Casha Terius is introducing us to, and whilst talented she is - it is difficult to see where this fits into the album. Similarly, Real, which features Pharrell, is an exploration of Dreamâs wealth and, well, real-ness; a concept he more than achieved (and more successfully) with the track Ghetto earlier in the album which features Big Sean. Similarly, it is hard to see why the song is necessary, seeming not to add a further layer to the albums message. These points though, are more to do with product placement as opposed to musical criticism.
The main question though, is whether or not this album is worth a new listenerâs time. The answer of course being unquestionably yes. Putting aside the fact that the album is being given away, it is better than every R&B album youâre likely able to purchase this year. Ranging from emotional and lyrical complexity, to songs that could easily chart, Terius Nash offers us a fresh exploration of his life as he grows in wealth, fame, controversy, and talent. Rather than offering us glib and fancy hooks bursting with undue optimism, rather than proclaiming his infallibility or how his wealth is a necessarily positive trait; Terius offers us realism, honesty and rawness.
And this is where his material shines. Not only should you be downloading this album, you should get hold of his other solo material if you havenât already. It is an excellent piece which serves as more than an adequate primer for his upcoming fourth studio album under his standard âThe-Dreamâ moniker in December of this year, The Love IV: Diary of a Madman.
[First posted 13/08/11]
Artistic ambition can be defined through not just vision and direction, but through subsequent execution and delivery. The two artists in question have pursued and achieved such direction on a number of occasions previously, achieving both (though not always simultaneous) commercial and critical acclaim. Jay-Z and Kanye Westâs Watch the Throne in itself is a successful idea â a project that oozes potential and swagger. Still dusting his shoulders off from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Westâs powers are unmatched in the music world in terms of combining pithy self-deprecation with an ego that more than cancels it out. Jay though, has never been one for such conscious publication of self-doubt, only going as far as childhood tales and memories in allowing us glimpses of Shawn Carter. The combination of the two comes as part of a trio of duo albums in rap in the past few months (Eminem and Royceâs Hell: The Sequel, and Waka Flocka Flame and Gucci Maneâs Ferrari Boyz making up the other two) â and at least on paper, Watch the Throne has all the necessary ingredients for an album which will be perched like royalty above them.
What mires this album mostly is its inconsistency of theme and tone. Whilst album opener No Church in the Wild makes the listener stand to attention, focus, and sift through the message on display; its immediate successor â Lift Off is centred on Beyonceâs chorus, and its lyrics appear to carry no emotive or substantive weight. Such inconsistency is in fact Watch the Throneâs very consistency. Where we are used to the Westian verbosity on display, shifting from deep intensity to nauseating arrogance, we are unused to hearing it so oft coupled with Jay-Zâs dexterous prose â and even less so are we expecting them to not rhyme off each other with ease. That is to say, both of these artists offer approaches which are too variant for these exchanges to be consistently impressive. A quick recap of previous tracks where both artists have appeared vocally will illuminate the matter further. Run This Town, Monster, So Appalled and Swagga Like Us has West rapping the commercial and the sexual consistently. Now whilst Kanye is apt to do this without being on the track with Jay-Z, both of these artists are too settled in their own stylist momentum to be able to accommodate another member of hip-hop royalty. Both artists need to be the centre of attention, which they both tacitly admit to through the album title, and which they both are unwilling to completely disregard or indeed grasp out of respect to the other. This is merely to say that at times the atmosphere is awkward when they attempt to rap off of each other, but by no means is this to say it is completely unsuccessful.
Such a prognosis seems much more negative than is actually the case. The two do indeed attempt to play the rap-exchange game. As well as this, the album finds a great strength in production choice and technique. Straight from the word go Watch the Throne allows us to appreciate genre-bending production techniques. From the dubstep/clubstep (one of a few nods in the direction of the genre, only rising in its commercial visibility in America now) breakdown of Niggas in Paris, the soulful Otis, the expansive and reflective New Day, the sample of Flux Pavillion on Who Gon Stop Me (which we can only assume was prompted by the Chiddy Bang sample of the same track on Peanut Butter & Swelly) to the African-chant inspired Murder to Excellence â the album navigates genres with verve and skill. The honing of production choice from the experienced Jay and the still blossoming Kanye is on point consistently here, even if their own deliveries donât match up.
The album does shine however, and it does so when the two pursue a broader artistic ambition, which I mentioned previously. From a lyrical standpoint, both are at ease in detailing their own successes, their own superiority. On Niggas in Paris there is a click, as the two exchange upward glances at their own and each otherâs ego, from Yeezyâs casual rejection of marriage and continuous namedropping of brands. Both warn us not to let them into their âzoneâ before Otis finds the rediscovery of swagger (though not substance, but since when is that the point?). And it is indeed in tracks like Otis, Gotta Have It, Who Gonâ Stop Me and Why I Love You (a track which has Kanye continuing to attempted the Mr Hudson envelope, which I feel is too much ignored) that the album has a celebratory theme and fluid style â ie where it at its most natural and impressive. There are more intricate verses and hooks on the album, sharper lyrical explorations and musical breakdowns â but in an album that oozes commercial success and artistic viability, Jay and Kanye are at ease with self-aggrandizing, - and it is where the twoâs styles are most at home with eachother.
Subsequently, it is where many albums can leave a bad taste in the mouth â ie the ones of wealth focus â where this album succeeds, as an African-American display of slicing through and conquering of the American dream; placing themselves in the Royal Family â and it is the very glibness and immodesty with which they do it that is attractive.
Kanye and Shawnâs release appears to flash gratuitous personal wealth in the face of continuing American economic turmoil â both from the failings of the Obama stimulus, the dire unemployment situation; and of course the recent credit downgrade. Rather than be appalled at such gross materialism though, the listener can also appreciate and revel in what is the current theme music to African-American success in capitalism â rap music. In all the weaknesses we can pinpoint here, Watch the Throne represents the order rather than confounds it â and it is a worthy representation at that.
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