Beans – Tomorrow Right Now (Warp, 2003)
Anti-Pop Consortium no longer exists and to most that doesn’t mean too much. But in the realm of underground hip-hop it means that there are probably going be a lot of interesting solo projects. Anti-Pop reportedly split up earlier this year and since members have been touring as well as recording. However, the first of these solo albums to appear is that of Beans. Warp, which mostly deals in electronic music, has seen fit to put out Tomorrow Right Now.
“Mutescreamer”
After unwrapping the record and being sucked into the austere looking picture of Beans in a pair of sun glasses on the front and a picture of the red stripe posted on the back of his head as well as the back of the album, plop it down in the player and prepare yourself. El-P has been touted as the most innovative beat maker in hip-hop of late, but simply by listening to Tomorrow Right Now it seems that Beans could now be in contention for that title. There are three instrumental tracks (“Sickle Cell Hysteria”, “Rose Periwinkle Plum”, “Xon”) on this offering, all of them differ in length and scope, but all of them are exceedingly electronic. Beans, for the most part, eschews the boom-bap of rap in lieu of pushing into new territory: the further merging of hip-hop and electronic music. There are drum programs, there are steady bass lines, but there are also electronic burps and gurgles, sounds and noises. The record’s rife with too many quality tracks to comment upon individually, but “Crave” easily sums up the album in one line. Beans simply figures that there are “Too many MCs and not enough listeners”. True.
Alec K. Redfearn & The Eyesores – Everyman for Himself & God Against All (Corleone, 2003)
(This originally appeared in Canned Magazine)
Let us all pretend that men birth babies and that another man has the ability to impregnate him. And if a man has multiple partners, each man’s DNA some how meshes to create the next generation. Now, put Zappa, Weird Al and Tom Waits in a room with a buncha liquor and a bed. Nine months later, Alec K. Redfearn pops out playing tracks from this slab on his accordion. I don’t know if that’s an endorsement or a condemnation, but the redoubtable talent and uniqueness of this release is indisputable. You know that once a man sings a love song and repels the aire of mediocrity in the lyrics, there is in-fact talent. These folks do it on “Ohio” and it’s even amusing while they’re amidst the groove. Most of the time, the music makes me feel as if I should be walking down a tree-lined pathway with a mule and a silly hat on – I’m not. There are a number of songs (“Black Tar and White Slavery”, “Nail/Total Eclipse of the Head/K-Hole”) constructed with minimal lyrics to shift focus to the bizarre, off-kilter melodies and funky rhythms of The Eyesores: damned enjoyable. The lone musical quandary reveals itself on the final two tracks that are ostensibly one. “The Green Hat” is a seven-minute drone, while “Coccyx” is a drone of only one minute and eleven seconds. As innocuous as the pair are, they’re alternately charming and a waste of time. Yet, the closing is only a finite blemish on an otherwise genuinely inventive release.
Tracklisting:
1. Mole
2. Candy-Ass
3. Heartpunch
4. Ohio
5. Black Tar and White Slavery
6. Nail/Total Eclipse of the Head/K-Hole
7. Black Holes
8. Cold Little Knife
9. Screeching Halt
10. The Green Hat
11. Coccyx
Sex Mob – Dime Grind Palace (Ropeadope, 2003)
Steven Bernstein, slide trumpeter and leader of Sex Mob, has a history so long that the review may not fit in here. Bernstein has appeared on recordings with DJ Logic, Lou Reed and MMW. Needless to say, the gentlemen’s credentials are in order. His latest group, Sex Mob is an acoustic quintet that makes a surprisingly large sound. The noises that the band explores on “Dime Grind Palace” are all over the place and some of the result is simply a mind fuck.
The most interesting aspect of “Dime Grind Palace” is the undertaking of a song broken into movements and dispersed throughout the program. Translation 1, 4, 2 and 3 offer a departure from the upbeat, Ornette Coleman inspired riffing and features John Kruth on mandolin. Each section boasts spacey textures, percussion and the mandolin sliding up and down the neck, not so much playing a predetermined riff, but playing a feeling. Due to the fact that these interludes stray in scope from the other tracks serves to deconstruct The Album as a concept. With these dispersed interludes the gents of Sex Mob are giving the listener a rest from the frantic pace and funk of other tracks like “Conk Buster” or “Mothra”. When a band works to push structures that exist, the gesture generally serves to exhibit creativity, something this group possesses in abundance. But, everything on here isn’t perfect, unfortunately. “Norbert’s Weiner”, while pushing ahead of the norm leaves one feeling drained. Not a bad song, just not up to spec. This isn’t buy or die, but check ‘em out.
Kevin Kinsella – Firestick (I-Town, 2003)
Before playing this I didn’t know whether to expect some fine reggae rhythms from the leader of John Brown’s Body or simply a superfluous amount of talent. The slab draws a bit from two disparate roots musics: reggae and bluegrass/country. An odd spattering (i.e. Almost Acoustic). What we’ve got here is Ti Ti Chickapea (a jarringly atypical acoustic band) accompanying Kevin Kinsella. First, there’re alotta covers, but there’s a reason. Kinsella’s previous endeavors repeatedly reference the past and interpret it. This project is no different. He references two styles that are not considered complimentary. A talent can accomplish the melding of these two musics though. There are pitfalls, but there are also rather impressive high points. We got the traditional American folk instruments on each track. One may not expect the mandolin to mesh with the down beat style of reggae. Two similar rhythmic techniques are utilized in each music: ostensibly creating the same music with drastically different cultural backgrounds. The track “Roots Mansion” delivers, in an overly sensitive manner. Covers and more love songs follow. It appears that the lyrical content varies from John Brown’s Body. The last song, “God is in Control” is pretty interesting. Perhaps the vocals and the instrumentation end up unintentionally sounding like Elvis Costello, but Kinsella sounds urgent. He pulls it off, aiming in another direction.