A Face Is Worth 1,000 Blogs

I review things and let my face do the talking!

[eriksface]

My review of It’s A Disaster.

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Acid Rap - Chance The Rapper

AH!

So, I've been kind of lazy with this blog.  I've been listening to a lot of new stuff, good and bad, but nothing I felt the need to share.  Until now.  I had seen this mixtape come out, but I had never listened to Chance the Rapper before.  My good friend, Chris told me to stop sleeping and wake up on Acid Rap (Chris's song-a-day blog http://chrisstern.tumblr.com/).  So I gave it a spin.

AH!

This tape is a tasty, tasty treat.  

There is a tidal wave of new talent in the rap industry.  Everyone strives for their own unique spin or sound, but unfortunately many acts tend to blend together.  And the new trend among established acts has been to release tapes with armies of guests over manufactured beats and ride their fame rather than creating something of substance.  

Acid Rap is a cohesive, soulful, personal manifesto that hops from topics like guns and drugs to creating a better future and falling in love.  It's funny, cocky, soulful, honest and most important of all, fun as hell.  I'll be honest, I was hooked at the intro and it only got better from there.  Gospel piano and singers lay the groundwork for the Chicago emcee's raspy, wacky sing-song verses.

AH!

I harped earlier about the overabundance of guests on tracks in order to sell a song, but there is nothing wrong with guests on tracks when it makes sense.  The features on Acid Rap feel natural and only add to the fabric that holds the tape together.  Childish Gambino, who I'm not really a fan of, fits perfectly on "Favorite Song", Action Bronson adds his bravado to the cocky song "NaNa", and TDE/Black Hippy member Ab-Soul brings up the caboose of this 3-song feature train.  

Chance The Rapper has an elastic flow which simultaneously feels smooth and off-kilter.   All too often, it seems like artists forget how fun rap music can be.  Acid Rap is, above all, a fun and funky ride through Chance The Rapper's world of drugs, alcohol, violence and love.  While the subject matter may seem familiar, the packaging and delivery are a welcome change to the mundanity of the recent wave of rap releases.

AH!

But don't take my word for it.  Check it out below!

https://www.2dopeboyz.com/2013/04/30/chance-the-rapper-acidrap-mixtape/

[eriksface]

Swans - The Seer

Dear God.  What have I done?  Maybe it's best to start from the beginning.

I recently moved with my friend Alex from Minnesota to New Orleans via the roads (aka driving).  Prior to departure, we both acquired a large sum of new music to listen to on the trip.  In my attempt to veer away from hip-hop, I chose to listen to some of 2012's most heralded, non-rap albums.  Underneath the unanimous, shiny gems of the year, one album kept working it's way into my subconscious.  The Seer.  I had never heard of the band Swans before, but it kept being recommended by different writers, so I figured, why not?  What's the worst that could happen?

Let's begin with the album art:

That should give you a brief warning about what you are getting yourself into.  This is possibly the most haunting and dark albums I've ever heard, and also one of the most engrossing and beautiful.

I started listening to it as the sun was setting over the trees in Kansas.  There is a moment in the opening track, Lunacy, after the droning, creeping intro where you can no longer turn back.  It drops, my eyes widened and I was trapped.  As darkness crept across the sky, I was completely enveloped in this dark, plodding adventure of an album.

It's a commitment of an album.  No singles here.  This is not a casual listen.  This is not an easy listen and it is not for the impatient listener.  With multiple tracks stretching over the 20 minute mark, Swans is content to take their time.  While the songs are in no rush to move forward, they establish a mood and a world where time seems to stand still.  It took me a long time to get through the whole thing, simply because I would always run out of time.  That is my warning to you.  Give yourself time enough to listen to the whole thing.  Otherwise it will haunt you like it did me.  It's like Jumanji.  You can't be freed from the madness until you finish the game.

The Seer is easily one of the most unique releases I've heard from any act in my life.  It is difficult for me to compare it to anything I've heard before.  It's like waking up in a dark forest with no idea how you came to be there. As you go deeper into the forest, you realize that you are in the presence of a dark spirit, bigger than anything you've experienced before.  Primal percussion, unsettling guitars, consuming orchestration and a low, weathered voice guide you through this nightmarescape.  I could go on, but I think I've sufficiently overhyped this album while hopefully giving and idea of the impact it had on me.

So, the next time you have a long drive ahead of you or are alone at sunset and need something to fill that dark void in your soul, begin your experience with The Seer.  Be patient, you will be rewarded.

Here is the opening track, Lunacy.  If it's something that captures your interest, I urge you to check out the rest of the album.

[eriksface]

The Rum Diary

OR: Fear and Loathing in Puerto Rico

I had been meaning to see this movie for a long time.  I didn't really know what it was about, but I knew it had eccentric and drunk Johnny Depp, so I figured I couldn't lose.  I had no idea it was loosely about Hunter S. Thompson, kind of, I think.  

So,If you liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, then you'll LOVE skipping The Rum Diary.  Seriously, just go watch Fear and Loathing again.  Right now.

There were many subplots, but never really one main plot.  The movie meanders through different moods.  One minute it's a buddy pic, the next it's a tale of a seedy underworld, the next it's an underdog vs. The Man movie.  Many of the actors felt like they were acting for stage, especially Depp's buddy in the film, Michael Rispoli.  

When it ended, it really felt like a 2 hour excuse for Depp to do this:

Which is fine, except that when there seems to be no story and no characters you're rooting for, you kind of get over it pretty quickly.  They do some psychadelic stuff which comes out of nowhere and is not as good as F&L.  Honestly, that was the film's biggest problem; It didn't know what it wanted to be.  It felt like a bunch of good-looking scenes mashed together as some sort of unorganized collage.  The movie reaches a sort of climax where you're supposed to feel bad for the characters but also hopeful (or something).  All I felt was confused and let down.

ALSO, it was totally miscast!  For some reason, Giovanni Ribisi was playing Johnny Depp!

LOOK AT HIM!  Making that Depp face!  Maybe this was Depp's producer way of playing the lead and the eccentric weirdo.  Oh also, Ribisi was great.  I wish his character had actually mattered in any way, which is how I felt about pretty much every character.

The only good thing that kept me from falling asleep was honestly Amber Heard.  I don't know if she is a good actor, but I never noticed...

I'm not normally that guy who's like, "Oh man, that movie sucked but at least Megan Fox was in it, amirite!?"  *High fives all my bros*  *Slams a Monster Energy Drink*  But I was really struggling to find something I liked about this movie.  

Moral of the story, see Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.  Love it.  Do NOT try to remake it in Puerto Rico, even if you have boatloads of money.  Oh, and in case you are wondering, yes.  Aaron Eckhart is still the man.

[eriksface]

Skelethon - Aesop Rock

This album was shockingly good.  I have always liked Aesop, but I've never had him on repeat like this until Skelethon.  Upon first listen, I could honestly say I had no idea what any song on the album was about.  Now I have a slight grasp on a few.  Topics include donut shops, vegetables, relaxing, dead friends, and of course, mummifying your cat.  Yeah, this is one of those albums where you read the entire lyric booklet along with it just to keep up. For example, "Cycles To Gehenna" begins:

Baseheads locally approach all spark plugs,

total disregard for a dying man's shark jump,

post-meridiem pretty tungsten attracts any once-pale horse

painted gunmetal black, face masking

What?  

The production is flawless and fits the lyrics perfectly.  While it may be more difficult to understand than a song about how nice a car is or how much one loves to smoke weed, in the end it is much more rewarding.  This album is a gift to music.  In a time where many artists are content to follow the trends, Aesop Rock is on his own planet.  Let's just hope we don't have to wait another 5 years for the next one.

Highlights: The one-two punch of ZZZ Top into Cycles To Gehenna is unreal.  Also, the closer, Gopher Guts, is a treasure well worth the wait.

Weak Spots: None.  As soon as it ended, I wanted to hear it all again in an unrelenting search to understand!

Also, this video is banaynays!