True School Rules: Rock The Bells’ Sequel
Authenticity in hip hop has always been a hot topic: who are the REAL MC’s making REAL music and who are the frontin’ rappers getting pimped for dough. While the line marking realness blurs depending on who’s drawing it, it’s pretty much a given that every year Rock the Bells serves up one of the best “True School” lineups around: a day of classic hip hop, banging beats and new school treats for heads, backpackers and beatdiggers.
In comparison to previous years when Wu-Tang Clan, Rage Against the Machine and Public Enemy led the crowd through sets of throw ya mothaf—-n hands up bangers,
this year’s headliners A Tribe Called Quest presided over a mellower court with rounds of head nodding, way-back-when jamming and some well-timed wildin,’ smokin’ and crowd surfing, courtesy of Redman, Methodman and – whodathunkit — De La Soul.
Performers on both stages were on their game. The big names — from Rakim to The Pharcyde to Tribe to the Bay’s own Blackalicious — rocked the packed main arena like old school heads proving they could still kick it, while newer acts like Immortal Technique, dead prez, Wale and Jay Electronica stalked through early sets bringing progressive politics and heady wordplay. The hyperactive young guns over on the second stage, including the Kidz in the Hall, Berkeley’s The Pack, Spank Rock and Amanda Blank, buzzed over their pint-sized audience like first graders after too much sugar.
But this year’s King of Rock the Bells crown undoubtedly belonged the Nas. Fresh off a Billboard No. 1 album release, Mr. Nasir Jones got his rock star swagger on in between anti-big media tirades, cuts off the new album “Untitled” and Queensbridge classics like “Half Time,” “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” and “If I Ruled the World.” And as he adjusted his shades and looked out into the audience, he told them they indeed could rule the world and that hip hop, with it’s “pants saggin’ and hats on backwards, (is) the future.” And as a sea of hip hop voices rang in response, realness appeared to definitely be in the building.
Vohnegut: Vohnegut
This album has an apparent Mars Volta-esque vibe.
Either with a similar sounding voice from the vocalist Jason or the ethereal, moody sound of the entire disc. The band’s sound is very instrumentally driven. At times the music overbears the vocals, and the production sounds tinny, maybe deliberately. The fifth track Transient starts out with beautifully plucked acoustic guitars, with eerie effect laden sounds layered in the background.
The strongest song on the album is the eighth track Particle. It reminds me of a band I loved called HUM. With dreary guitars and lengthy melodies.
I feel if this album was better produced and mixed it would be undeniably powerful, but is lacking something I just can’t put my finger on.
Will Haven: Hierophant
The bands longawaited six year follow up to Carpe Diem is finally here with a brand new twist; vocalist Jeff Jaworski. The Hierophant after a short instrumental intro ‘Grey Sky At Night’ the track ‘King’s Cross’ punches you in the face. Guttural growls prove Jaworski stands his own on this album. The tribal-esque drums are a clear progression, along with the deep grooving and droning guitars.
The Hierophant is the first album Will Haven took to a new producer, Revolution Smile’s Shaun Lopez (also produced Deftones’ Saturday Night Wrist) along with some co-producing Chino of Deftones. A definitive difference is the clear and intelligible vocals.
The third track Helena is a gem starting right off with strong screams followed by a driving breakdown. Droning guitars that have a deep melodic overtone.
Another amazing gem is Sammy Davis Juniors One Good Eye, not only is it a mouthful of a song title, but the splatter beat death-like beginning leads off into the patented Will Haven groove leaving every listener’s head bobbing along. This song was written along with original vocalist Grady Avenell.
This album is a strong effort from these guys which is getting accolades all around! No word yet on Bob-Kabobs though.
Good City Lie Still: Good City Lie Still
Beautiful piano and haunting melodic vocals open this album. This five piece group hailing from Santa Rosa did a great job with production and mixing on this disc. Soft, yet aggressively emotional lyrics and airy atmospheric layers of guitars, drums and bass guitar. I believe they fall into the Indie/Progressive Rock genre, but Good City Lie Still shouldn’t really be labeled or blanketed. Songs like ‘Unruly Man’ and ‘Make The Sun Go Down’ are rock oriented with catchy alternative guitars. The strongest track on the record is the closer’ Sonar.’ The vocals and guitars are strong and melodic, and singer Ross hits some pretty high note.
You can check them out at: myspace.com/goodcityliestill
Tegan And Sara: The Con
These 26 year old, identical indie pop twins are clearly maturing, and so is their music.
Produced by Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla, this album has many different moods all wrapped up.
Melancholy in some parts, carefree in most and aggressive in others, the Con seems a predictable growth for the girls. When I say predictable, I mean that I got exactly what I wanted from this album, their fifth full length release.
Title track “The Con,” is multi layered and synthdriven and carries a hook that’s quite catchy. Track 5 “Are you ten years ago?” is a darker, 90’s inspired song with layered vocals and bone chilling beats.
My favorite track off this album is number 9, “Burn Your Life Down.” It’s well produced and the lyrics are emotionally moving.
Tegan and Sara are playing in San Francisco in a couple of weeks. Check our calendar page for the dates and info, and look for a future interview with the girls.
Mistah F.A.B: Da Baydestrian
Whether you’ve watched him host at Paid in Full, heard his songs blasting from car speakers, or watched his banned “Ghost Ride It” music video on YouTube, chances are, if you’re a Bay Area hip-hop fan, you know about Mistah F.A.B. For those wondering, his name stands for “Money is Something to Always Have Faeva Afta Bread.” This Oakland-based emcee is putting the Bay Area on the map with the rap world’s latest trend: Hyphy. The “Go Stupid-Go Dumb” movement has been taking over mainstream radio as of late. Songs about stunna shades and “ghost riding whips” receive national airplay, and are part of the reason the Bay Area is finally getting some long-overdue attention in the hip-hop world again.
The opening track reprises a line from the Bay Area anthem, “Super Sic” which was featured on F.A.B.’s 2005 album, Son of a Pimp. Like Son of a Pimp, the new album contains songs that will appeal both Hyphy fans and backpackers. For the Hyphy Kids out there, check out “Sideshow” which features Bay Area legend Too $hort and the raspy-voiced Keak da Sneak and “Dem Cars.”
Backpackers will appreciate the socially conscious lyrics of “My Deepest Thoughts” and the album’s impressive closer, “100 Bars.”
The album’s seventeen tracks do a perfect job of representing the various sides of F.A.B.’s talent. “Goin’ Crazy” which also features Too $hort and Fabo from D4L, who’s “Laffy Taffy” song was stuck in everyone’s head last year, does not do much more than focus on women’s posteriors. The chorus goes “shorty gotta big ol’ butt, baby gotta big ol’ butt, that girl gotta big ol’ butt, it’s so big…it’s so big.” You get the picture. Given the state of mainstream radio today, it will most likely be the album’s single. But on the other side of the scale, the lyrics of “My Deepest Thoughts” and “Life on Track” serve as a representation of his intellectual side.
Da Baydestrian is being called the “album before the album.” As result of Hyphy’s recent success, Mistah F.A.B. signed a deal with major label, Atlantic Records, which serves as a huge boost for Bay Area hip-hop. Unfortunately, due to the legal issues surrounding his Atlantic single, “Ghost Ride It,” the label has pushed back F.A.B.’s album (entitled The Yellow Bus Rydah) until later this year. The single samples the Ghostbusters theme song and the music video features the Ghostbusters car. Though it should be noted that Atlantic did give F.A.B. permission to release an independent album, which became The Baydestrian.
Crossover. This word best represents the many aspects of Mistah F.A.B. He is one of the few emcees that can write an album and freestyle proficiently. He makes songs for the clubs, for the radio, for the sideshows, and for the socially conscious listener. He maintains his street credibility while making huge steps towards mainstream success. Hopefully, by next year, he’ll give us an entire set at Paid in Full, his songs will be blasting from car speakers worldwide, and his videos will be playing on MTV and BET and YouTube.
Rise Of New Audio: Rise Of New Audio
I never know what is better, hearing a band live or hearing the CD first. If the band is really amazing live and then you hear the CD and it sucks, it’s disappointing. If you hear a super bad ass CD then you see the band live and they suck, it’s disappointing too. So you’re pretty much screwed either way. I had seen Rise of New Audio (RONA) at Rebounds in Rocklin and they gave me a few copies of their new self titled EP. I had high enough expectations for the CD after seeing the band live, but I tried to stay as objective as possible.
The CD starts off with a Foo-fighter-ish track, Return to The Grand Estate, the chorus was a little shaky and despite the longer distorted bridge could use a little more diversity. Next on the CD is Ivy League, whose vocal melody is uncomfortably similar to the song before… so it made it kind of hard to listen to in the order it was in. After the first two songs, I feel like the EP gets a lot better.
The next track, Ferrera, has cool lyrics, good solid riffs that are catchy and is much more dynamic than the previous two songs. The next song, Watching this Life, has a moody type of chorus, and at almost four minutes seems to drone on a little bit, I think that if I was in the right state of mind I would have enjoyed this song a little more. I have no idea where Emergency, the next track comes from. It’s really out of nowhere and I wasn’t sure if it was the same band. I suppose it shows the band’s diversity to write different types of music, but it was much more Deftonesish than the rest of the pop/rock CD. It does however flow well into the last song, Never Been So Comfortable very well… whose vibe is harder than the rest of the CD, until you hit some piano part that again I say, what? They also threw in a “secret song” about 30 seconds after the end of the last song. You’ll just have to buy the CD if you are interested in knowing what it is.
I can see what RONA was doing with this CD, it starts off rockin, slows down a bit then rocks back out… and then ends slow. It’s definitely got a flow to it. The CD overall isn’t bad, you just have to pick which song you want to listen to depending on the mood you’re in.
Check out Rise Of New Audio at myspace.com/ronamusic
Eightfourseven: Silent Raid
This third independent release from the Sacramento homeboys actually came out in April of 2006.
It was produced by Eric Stenmen (Will Haven, Revolution Smile, Death Valley High). Strong melodies and haunting vocals, dance over the beautifully technical guitars. With hints of keyboards, symphonies, , and some static noise, the cd is very eclectic without taking you too far off path.
Musically and vocally it’s without fault. Radio friendly, but without the radio cookie cutter-ness. Very ethereal and moody. After listening to the entire collection of songs four times I find myself singing along (even if I am singingthe wrong words). The song Quaalude, starts out with some distorted screaming, a drum machine-esque beat, and some funky sounds.
Chimaira: Resurrection
Chimaira has returned to release their fourth fulllength CD, Resurrection, which is their best CD yet. Many Chimaira fans have been waiting for this CD, especially since the bands’ original drummer, Andols, has rejoined. Chimaira has also parted ways with Roadrunner Records and is now on the Ferret Record label.
This CD consists of 11 brutal tracks which stay true to Chimaira’s distinct sound. It is obvious that the band has become more developed and pushed the envelope to exceed its fans expectations.
Vocalist Mark Hunter maintains the same anger and aggression in these tracks as he had in his previous albums, but he also experiments with his vocals. “No Reason To Live” is a chilling song in which you can hear the raw emotion in Hunter’s voice. The keyboards/sampling is much more prominent in this CD, but it compliments the rest of the music very well. One of the best tracks on this CD, “Six”, proves that the band has put a lot of hard work into this CD. The drums and riffs are brutal and flawless. The CD also comes with a DVD which shows the making of “Resurrection.” It brings you behind-thescenes to see how the band worked together to overcome struggles to make their masterpiece. Resurrection is definitely a must-have, and the DVD is an added bonus that makes it that much more worth buying.
Snoop Dog: Blue Carpet Treatment
First and foremost, I think it’s obvious that Snoop has cut back on the Chronic! I haven’t heard Snoop flow since he begun. This might be his best album since “Doggy Style.” He really put a lot of effort and time into this release. Not just the special guest lists (George Clinton, Nate Dogg, B Real, The Game, R. Kelly, E- 40, Ice Cube, Akon, Jamie Fox, Dr. Dre and Stevie Wonder) but the songs seem to have deeper meaning to them.
“Crazy” is an instant hit and a song meant to cruise to. “Vato” started controversy before anyone really looked into the meaning. It’s about Hispanic and African Americans struggling to get along peacefully, and that all “sets” bleed red. “Candy” is an all-star flow. “Gang Banging ‘101″ expresses how gang life really is. “Lil’ Crips” is bumping with Bass. “Beat up on your Pads” is about the youth football league Snoop started in his hood to keep the kids out of gangs. It’s a very positive song.
There are a whopping 21 songs that really deliver on this disc. Take my word go out and buy, burn, or steal this album, you won’t be disappointed.
