Musical Heroes UNITE!

What a great year this is for music, I haven't even got round to writing about Vampire Weekend or the mighty MGMT yet (and I've probably missed the boat to bother...) and now I've been presented with the Union of 2 of my musical Heroes, the twisted funk-blues genius that is Beck and the psychadelic 60s-with-a-hip-hop-beat productions of Brian "Dangermouse" Burton.

And the collaboration really lives up to what you'd imagine to hear...the 2 contributing what they do best to make a whole that is even greater than the sum of the parts. Stand out tracks are tricky on an album of this quality but it has to be said that "Chemtrails" is on of the most dreamy, wonderfully weird yet increadibly tracks I've ever heard.

I've already written about the fantastic results achieved by putting Madlib with Erykah Badu

If collaborations of independently brilliant artists can produce work this fine then bring them on. Pharrell's much talked of collaboration with the Strokes is a hugely exciting prospect, althought he first fruits of that (the track made for the Converse ad) is a bit of a throw-away...but with proper time & attention, that could be a match equal of Beck/Burton.

So here's to the union of musical heroes...let's get experimental!

Trust in...Lists!

Everyone likes a good list don't they, top-tens or top-fives always spark off some great debates...so that's what I'm going to do.

In honour of my last post I'll start with a top-5, in this case, my top-5 tracks produced by the one & only Pharrell Williams (sorry Chad, by this I mean "the Neptunes") .

1. Justin Timberlake "Like I Love You"

2. Kelis "Caught out There"

3. N*E*R*D "Run to the Sun"

4. Lupe Fiasco "I Gotcha"

5. Daft Punk "harder better faster stronger" (Neptunes remix)

I could've listed the whole first N*E*R*D album quite easily, but that wouldn't be much fun would it!

Renewed Faith in Pharrell

Following a little while in the wilderness, I can finally declare my faith in Pharrell has been restored. The 1st N*E*R*D album, "...in search of" was so significant to me it's untrue...I have the original limited edition version made with crunchy drum machines & synths which got re-recorded with a live band for it's full release.

It was such a blast of fresh air...so musical & so different to anything on the soundscape at that time that it sounded like it dropped off another planet altogether. I remember reading about it in Jockey Slut magazine (remember that one!) and thinking "YES! that sounds like it's for me!" and indeed it was.

So much so I got Pharrell / Neptune obsessed for a good while, buying anything that they were associated with...some great (kelis) & some not so great (Clipse). But hey, that's the way it goes sometimes.

Unfortunately, their second album, "Fly or Die" didn't do much for me & I lost faith completely with the Pharrell Solo album...what was that about?

But on a recent trip to New York I popped into Billionnaire Boys Club in Soho, a truly inspiring place, filled with Pharrell's clothing lines (BBC & Ice Cream) but also selling the new N*E*R*D album for a bargain $9.99 (Yes, that's £5 to us Brits). So I picked it up & frankly, I'm blown away...I'll post a full review soon, but for now I'll just say that my faith is fully restored.

He is back in my list of Heroes once more!

RepLife - The Unclosed Mind

Daniel Gray-Kontar might not be a name you're familiar with, but as "Replife" he has recently made somewhat of a shockwave on the Futuresoul/hip-hop scene. He first came to my conciousness as a guest on the sublime Politik album (MdCL & Bembe's recent project).

A little digging around then uncovered a project he'd recently completed for the ever wonderful "Futuristica Music" label. Production comes from big names on the London scene including Dego & Keidi Tatham, Atjazz, MdCL, Arch-typ RLP, Don-Ray, Kinetic & a few others...

Similarly to the Badu album, when the beats are such high quality, it takes a hell of a talent to still own the project & come out on top (especially for me, a producer, who tends to be more interested in the beat than the words). But Replife does this with ease, style & grace. The man has a delicate flow, poetic, rhythmic & melodic that draws you to his voice & what he has to say...which is a lot, we have one enlightened dude here.

So all in all this is an unbelievably fine hip-hop album that should appeal to the hip-hoppers & the future-soulers in equal amounts, but most of all, for those of us that just love good music, there's enough here for you to love for a very long time. To think this man packed in rapping years ago, it would have been a tragedy if he hadn't made this album. Thank you Daniel.

Another Five Star album *****

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part 1

Well, what can you say about this one.

I'll start by saying that this is categorically one of the finest albums ever made. Anyone who's had a passing interest or an unhealthy obsession with Erykah over the years will no doubt know her best for Baduism's minimalist smokey soul sound. And to be honest, I thought that album was so perfect that I didn't buy another badu album until this one.

I happened to stumble across her myspace page one day early this year when a bit bored & was totally blown away by the track "Honey". This 9th Wonder production is so phenomenal that Erykah should have rightfully taken her place at the top of all the charts. Somehow though, that didn't happen, and the track only features on the album as a hidden bonus track at the end. I have to say I was disappointed when I saw this, but only until I actually played the album...at which point "disappointed" was not a term I could use to describe how I felt.

Starting with an intro produced by Roy Ayres ("Amerykahn Promise") and moving on to the brilliant "The Healer" (Madlib on top form with the beat) & through to "Me" (with SA-RA on the beat). And the quality continues. All the productions are top class and with a lesser artist, might find themselves dominating the sound, but with the commanding & wonderfully unique Erykah on the mic, there's no mistaking who's album this is.

So in short, an absolute triumph in underground soul. Can't wait for Part 2 (out later this year).

Miss this at your peril! Full Five Star Rating *****

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Trust In...Music!