Why?

Rubber Traits EP/Video

Anticon Records

Street: 2.28

Why = Hymies Basement Reaching Quiet Mutated Conditions

With Sandollars, Early Whitney, and now Rubber Traits, Why? Can now legitimately be self proclaimed as the Anticon EP king. This album was a great excuse to materialize new and/or unreleased songs, one of which, Rubber Traits taken from the December shambolic slacker shuffle of an album; Elephant Eyelash. I was undoubtedly impressed by the hidden A-side tracks habituated by the new Yoni Collective. Pick Fights is all about how fun one might have living consciously in this embryonic and overgrowing society. Then we have Dumb Hummer, which pesters the idea of the camo-fashion statements that your eyes might be assaulted with daily. The CD also features  a priceless, flub-cheesy video for Rubber Traits directed by Ravi Zupa, who has worked with Themselves and Sole in the past (check out the No Music of Aiffs). The video intensified the song and gave it that extra jolt of energy. From a naked Yoni Wolf, to cut and paste Pug dogs, to Cocker-Spaniels with human mouthsthe video stands out on its own. Check it out just for the video, but be careful, you might get dizzy. Lance Saunders

DJ JS-1
Audio Technician
Bomb Hip Hop Records
DJ JS1 = Dj Honda Scott La Rock DJ Mills
Audio Technician, his new album on Bomb Hip-Hop, is a hodgepodge of past achievements, previously unreleased tracks that sound like leftovers and a couple of highlights. For what it's worth, the aptly titled "New Level" is one of the more interesting tracks. While he may not be a born rapper, he successfully translates his DJ ego to rhyme form. It's hard to understand why JS-1 thinks it is necessary to follow up the latter at such short notice, especially with an album that can only be described as lackluster. JS-1 is certainly well advised to get from behind the turntable and get into production and put his name on real songs. He just needs to turn his craft and knowledge into an appealing musical form. He may have done it before, but fails on Audio Technician. Lanceferd

Nac One
Natural Reaction
Bomb Hip Hop Records
Nac.. Cool James Suakrates Nas
Nac One is apparently a graf artist/emcee hailing from the Bay Area, an area blushing with an abundance of talent. Having honed his craft for a number of years performing with a host of top-shelf artists with top-shelf/ East Coast beats, Natural Reaction is Nac Ones virgin attempt at forging a dent in an underground rap scene that seems to be nearing saturation. In all earnestness, Nac One is a decent emcee. Intelligent and outspoken, his rapid-fire delivery is technically polished and structurally, his rhymes hold their own. However, I found Nac One stumbling over syllables, punctuating his flow with awkward pauses and littering his album with unimaginative punch lines and barking on top of somewhat symphonic samples with a drum line laced into it. A fun listen if digested as a sporadic, superficial digestion; a more thorough and extended listen reveals flaws that render the record a haplessly frustrating experience. Lanceferd

Kerbloki
Poisonous Plants
Lucid Records
Kerbloki = Beastie Boys Paul Barman upset baby
Kerbloki is supposedly receiving rave reviews nationwide and climbing the charts on college radio (press sheet). That might be because they thrive off their cunning proficiency to make fun of underground rap that sometimes seems too weighty. Kerbloki is M.J. and J.B. They seem pleasant at first listen, but after a closer examination, they become irritating. The beginning line on the album states, Thank you, eat a dick/ whether I get mine, tell me where do I sign, proving that Poisonous Plants would be a more solemn album without vocals. The compositions sound great, however. Most of the music seems mechanically synthesized, but still deserves a golden star for originality. So if you are used to listening to Beastie Boys vinyls (a cappella) at the highest, bloodcurdling, ear-piercing, mind-melting volume, then you might be down with Kerbloki. If not, youll need Advil and a mute button. Lance Saunders

Sole
Live From Rome
Anticon Records
Sole = John Lennon Sage (makeshift patriot era) Noam Chomsky
So I heard Sole moved to Spain, got married and still continued to polish his inimical distortion of satirical morals. Dan you were correct. Live From Rome, produced and recorded in California and Spain, is more scattered with massive hooks and more diverse lyrics than his last albums. Budging from critical declarations to ridiculous and cynical statements, Sole has noticeably transformed. It seems that the immature and somewhat trapped Sole on his last release, Selling Live Water, has turned into a man with intercontinental options. Live From Rome is a whole lot of under-the-belt verbal jabs primarily made intriguing by the beats laid down by Controller 7, Odd Nosdam and Alias; an uncommon mixture of the compelling and the extraordinary. Tim, youre still my favorite Anticon artist. Lance Saunders

Heiruspecs
A Tiger Dancing
Razor and Tie Records
Heiruspecs = The Roots The Coup a faster Qwel (from Typical Cats)
After listening to this album, Im pissed that I missed the Heiruspecs show at Egos on Feb. 8. Now we all know that hip-hop shows are great, but they become even better with a live band, and these guys are as live as it comes. All the way from St. Paul, Minn., the Heiruspecs A Tiger Dancings rhythm section is nothing short of amazing, with complementing lyrics that are distributed with accurate aim. Now, this band is not famous yet. However, they have preformed with many of the names that you might have in your CD cases, confirming that they are emerging for a long journey with a thirst for making you get up and move. I will watch the rise of their music career with much enthusiasm. Lance Saunders

Subtle
A New White
Lex Records
Subtle = Themselves Greenthink Hood
I went to the local record store to pick this album up two weeks before it was mailed into SLUG for review. I couldnt wait to hear what Subtle had been working on for the last year. I gently slid A New White into my player and instantly fell in love at first listen. Its homogeneous to an audio painting with complex layers of samples, brief intermissions, soothing chants, concrete rhythms and multi-layered sporadic raps. These Subtle Six have morphed themselves into something that could be filed anywhere between indie rock, electronic, avant-garde or hip hop. Be warned though: Subtle is not for everyone. While many people love the music, theres an equal amount of people who cant (under) stand it. Either way, A New White is an electrifying experience that will leave you wondering about the future footing of music itself. Lance Saunders

Sub-title

young Dangerous Heart
Gold Standard Laboratories
Street: 4.22
Subtitle = Blackalicious Wesley Willis Pistol Pete
Evolution is not a bad thing, but sometimes it can go off course and you have no fucking clue as to whats going on. Thats pretty much how this record translates. Subtitle is definitely forging his way into new musical and lyrical realms from his own chosen platform of hip-hop. Quick-witted, spontaneous and bizarre, Young Dangerous Heart fosters a renaissance personification of open-mindedness in hip-hop today. The instrumentals are very technical and tight, while the vocals are scattered about in a very extraordinary fashion. At times his output seems monotonous, but his odd-ball punch-lines redeem his quality. Subtitle has a long history of being active in the California underground scene, and his name has passed by my ears many times. Im glad he finally has something to complement the hype. Lance Saunders

Thirstin Howl III
Skillitary
Skillionaire Enterprises
Street: 3.30
Thirstin Howl III = PG13 Puerto Rican Necro Fat Joe GodForbid
I have no idea how Thirstin Howl makes his sick-ass beats with so many guns, knives, grenades and bullet shells scattered all over his equipment. In Skillitary, Howl is caught red-handed piling drum machines, swooning female vocal harmonies and moaning his synths and samplers while delivering thunderous, jaw-chattering spontaneity atop an alternately continuous and ruthlessly visceral understructure of rhythm. Its quite original until track nine. Party For Free is the most blatant bite I have ever heard, taken from an internationally known and well-respected hip-hop crew from Oakland, Cal. (no names). On a different note, the lyrics were mostly about the same interchangeable topics and hooks. Most of the delivery was hilarious even though it might not have been Howls intent. Good for playing in the background, bad for enlightenment through hip-hop. Lance Saunders

Kabanjak meets Protassov feat. Jungle Brothers
Grow
Switchstance Records
Street: 06.05
K meets P = Greyboy DJ Mark Farina Blockhead
If someone pulled me aside and said that the hip-hop being produced/dropped out of Europe lately is somewhat more interesting and cutting edge than anything coming out of the States I dont think I would argue. Grow is filled with fluid jelly jazz that makes me think this album is meant to be experienced like a film. At first listen, it doesnt even sound like a hip-hop album at all; but some sort of foreign acid jazz. Because the instrumentals play a more prominent role on Grow, the rest of the album isn't as readily digestible as The Jungle Brothers lyrics would suggest. Grow is more than just beats and rhythmic word cadences. Songs like These Streets We Walk requires all attentive listening, standing in a tradition of Spanish guitar and solid drum tracksbut in any of these cases, it's well worth it. Lance Saunders

Odd Nosdam
Burner
Anticon Records
Street: 06.14
Odd Nosdam = Restiform Bodies Greenthink Reaching Quiet
After the unpredictable dismantling of the independently minded Berkeley-based avant- hoppers cLOUDDEAD, Odd Nosdam asserts himself yet again. Armed only with his unwavering G4 and cassette eight-track in hand, Odd assaults the senses with his static samples, raw street recordings and climaxing clips of consuming melodies and abstract sentimentalities. This album is a lot more singular than his last composition, which was fabricated companionless. Burner contains fluid development through outside collaborators such as Dax Pierson, Jel, Dosh, and Fog just to name a few. These tracks descend and diminish into a kaleidoscopic narcosis, enveloping caricaturist boom-bap cadences in layers of genre-defying and experimental coatings of lo-fi. However, thats exactly what you would expect from Odd Nosdam on any level. Most of the instrumentals are uncomfortably creased and from the beginning, seem erosive, but tumble into one concentrated pulp. Personally, I think that Burner is Odds most odd, modernistic, deconstructive masterpiece to date. Lance Saunders

Anger
Releasing Anger
Dialectic Records
Street: 06.24
Anger = Vast Aire Mike Tyson Organized Confusion
The only way this guy could ever get a record deal is if he started his own labeloh, wait thats exactly what he did. Anger (a name that completely negates his rhyme style) derives from Portland, Maine; a locale thats not too prominent in the hip-hop scene. To put it nicely, Anger constantly changes up his style throughout the album from Southern boi to Jamaican mon to speak-and-spell contradictory crap rap. If someone told me that this whole album was freestyle, I would doubtless believe them. In fact, I think this album would be more respectable if it were purely freestyle. However, Ive heard worse. The whole assortment of miscalculated and awfully simple Fruity Loops/Reason instrumentals are correlated with dreadful and offbeat rhymes that are plainly stiff and apprehensive. The Last song, Outro, sounds like an excerpt from the Bible (Leviticus Chapter Three), which makes me think Anger needs more than a prayer to sell this record. Lance Saunders

Dose One
Ha
Bell Weather
Street: ?????
Dose.. Slowdeath Pelt Greenthink
In the past year or so, Adam Dose One Drucker has been very engrossed with numerous projects including Subtle, 13&GOD, Pelt, Themselves, cLOUDDEAD and Boom Bip. So you could understand how the release of this album came to me as a surprise. After several minutes of heavy breathing, the songs finally start, as if Dose is very nervous to begin the first song. In a complex and orchestrating environment, you can barely hear the raw nostril phonics emanating from his cavernous lungs. However, this isnt just a normal hip-hop album including barbwire bundles of beats and rhymes, but a multifaceted assortment of embellished cut-and-paste samples, pick-and-pull verses and butchered Dr. Sample drums. The uncertain sound of ambiguity paints itself over every melody and word. Ha is not the best Dose record to date, but hey, I suppose he did an exceptional job with the time given. Lance Saunders

The Impossebulls, 7th Octave, No Boundaries, Public Enemy CD/DVD
Slave Education, 7th Degree, Soundtrack, London Invasion Tour 1987
Slam Jamz/Music Video Dist.
Street: 07.05
All 4 CD/DVDs = Nintendo Cheese The Show Disco Porno
Angela has always told me to be as brutally honest as possible while writing these reviews (and I am), so here goes. First of all, I have never honestly heard of anyone on these DVD/CDs, excluding Public Enemy, of course, but I might be entirely missing the point. They have been orchestrated by the dubious Chuck D himself, along with his new video distribution, Slam Jamz. Every feature presentation opens with some guy singing in a recording booth and video-editing that resembles MTV-slick. Every video includes crappy footage from live shows (you cant even make out any words in these performances), people smoking weed, quirks and annoying habits backstage, shitty spoken-word sections, confrontations with police officers, a lot of booty-shaking, etc. These videos dont suck by any stretch of the imagination, but Im not impressed by how fresh they are, either. Every DVD was certainly unpleasant to watch. I stopped caring about the stories and got bored off my ass, but I got through them. However, the CD soundtracks accompanied with the videos was unfortunately the same case. From rock to rap to soul and over to R&B, these artists were all over the place. It sounded like I was listening to a shitty radio station. Now, I know that little Donnie needs a chance to show his talent before hes on his way to getting rich in the music biz but damn! It seems like Chuck Ds musical taste is definitely transformed while scouting for new aptitude. Cheers to the person who created the remote control. Lance Saunders

^Why?

 ^{Elephant Eyelash}

^{Anticon Records}

^{Street: 08.16}

^{Why? = Restiform bodies Hiymes Basment Electric Birds}

^{Just when you thought your ears had gone rotten, Why? drops an Elephant Eyelash to medicate your auditory canal. For those of you who thought of Why? as the solo "band dork" reading bizarre poetry over Odd Nosdam beats into a 4-trackwell, times have changed. Why? is actually a fully functional quartet fronted by Yoni Wolf himself. Elephant Eyelash melds indie-hop, folk, sour-pop and mental rock into a twisted smirk in the mirror of music. The album starts off very fresh and progresses with a discharge of creativity. Most of the songs fall somewhere in between shy, poetic, irritable, loudmouthed or soft to the touch while Wolf overlays prominent lyrical ingenuity around harmonies flowing through a reservoir of instruments. From singing "Birthday Songs," to finding "Sand Dollars," Elephant Eyelash reveals act two in the Why? book of boney handwriting, chiseled noises and word-bubble verses that suffocate any assumptions you might have. -Lance Saunders}

Apsci
Thanks for Asking
Quannum Projects
Street: 9.26
Apsci = Projectionists Beth Gibbons (Portishead) Diesel Boy
When I put this album on, I had somewhat of a pre-conceived notion that I knew what Apsci (pronounced: ap-see) was all about. I thought this was just another Bronx-based record released by a company owned by a lazy MC who is trying to make money off of the fresh meat in the music business. I was sadly mistaken. Apsci pushes every musical boundary known to the ever-expanding genre of hip-hop. From a landscape of electro-pop to cacophonic beats with a mingling of scratchy wails, this dynamic husband-and-wife duo play out a modern love story through their music. Each song is like an audio journal that creates a different time or place for the listener. The guest appearances are as eclectic as the music itself, including artists like Mr. Lif, Versutyl, Tunde, and Pigeon John, who give you that fresh, fervent feeling for the next song. -Lance Saunders

Rich Medina
Connecting the Dots
Kindred Sprits
Street: 10.04
Rich Medina = Real Eyes Clay Carr Saul Williams
Apparently, Rich Medina received a large pre-package of this album before the release date, because I caught wind that he was out in New York selling this same album on the streets (I guess you cant leave all the work to the distribution company). At first listen, I enjoyed it immediately. The intro leant a deep thought in spoken-word form accompanied by subject matter consisting of Richs own surroundings. Following the intro, Connecting the Dots went downhill. Dont get me wrong this is a great album, but Im not one to habitually listen to soul music. With a lot of mashing-up of musical genres out there, this album seems more Afro-beat, bass-heavy soul than anything resembling hip-hop. However, the production on Connecting the Dots is thick and tasty, with raw bass grooves and hi-hats tuned to the right treble level, proving that Rich has skill to pass around. - Lance Saunders

Alias & Ehren
Lillian
Anticon Records
Street: 9.23
Alias & Ehren = Boom Bip Kenny G Muted
The new-wave generation intertwines throughout this instrumental Anticon collaboration of brotherly talent. Lillian (a tribute to their late grandmother) has an abiding beauty, as well as an underlying intensity accompanied by a somber, death-haunted side. Truly progressive, each track typically begins rather composed with brittle electro/hop loops from Alias drum machine, peaking into a massive sound of looming saxophones, clarinets, church organs, and a pile of hand-me-down high school band instruments. The sound, though, is the most amazing thing about this album. Alias trademark composites are often cheap and distorted with occasional lowered sample rates. The crunchy fuzz, pop-and-click percussion, and low tone-cut up drums are all here but they are highly accentuated and brightened by Ehrens amazing ear for melody. So, yet another warm and wonderful record is spawned and spat out into the world, courtesy of the Anticon Collective. This is no half-assed, money driven product, nor a sit-back moralistic effort. Its all things for every type of music consumer. Lance Saunders

Blackalicious   
The Craft
Quannum Projects/Anti-
Street: 9.27
Blackalicous = Floetry (masculine) Subtitle Lyrics Born
The Craft, another notch on the rhythm stick for influential rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Excel, and what a clean cut it is. I have never heard a Blackalicious album that was so tightly wound up as The Craft. With featured artists like George Clinton, Floetry, and Pigeon John, you know youre in for some introspective, mind-blowing, battle-crushing, next-level shit. Blackalicious has disciplined their sound a bit for this one, and its nothing like their previous albums. The beats are as technically intricate as they are clean, while Gift of Gabs bold, tongue-twisting lyrics go 75 miles-per-hour in a 25 zone (and gets away with it!). I didnt hear him take a breath for two-and-a-half minutes, which leads me to believe that Gift of Gab is not human. Maybe hes half dolphin and hiding it well. Lance Saunders

Custom Made
L.A. State of Mind
Custom Made Recordings
Street: 10.10
Custom Made = O.G.C. Prodigy (Juvenile Hell days) a lazy Organized Confusion.
Now, Im not the one to pass judgment on an album by the cover, but damn! The first thing you see is a white cop holding a single-barrel shotgun in one hand and a cigarette in the other, standing over a dead African-American who is lying next to a trash bin. So of course, I was a bit hesitant to sample the record. At first listen, I found myself bobbing my head to the morbid, yet technically melodic beats produced by Skandelous Skoob. The samples were rich with insightful and poetic excerpts from God-knows-where and rhymes laced with lingering afterthought. However, if Custom Made ever drops a sophomore album, which I anticipate in the future, Skoob will stop using his hi-hat so much, the emcees will find their rhythm and stop rapping about ego and how dopey-dope/freshy-fresh they are, and turn up that fucking booth-mic! Lance Saunders

Danger Doom
The Mouse and the Mask
Epitaph Records
Street: 10.11
Danger Doom = Danger Mouse MF Doom Mooninites   
Super villains, meatwads, milkshakes, ghosts, birdmen, deep-sea divers, outer-space aliens, mice, and overgrown praying mantisesALL ON ONE ALBUM? Wow, if only someone would have thought of this earlier! As seen on television, MF Doom and Danger Mouse have come together to bring you this comical gem of a record. Inspired by Adult Swim, the album contains character voices and skits from the late night Cartoon Network collective. While artists in the hip-hop genre rap about guns, hoes, rims, violence, and bling-bling, MF Doom is found talking about the most retarded things he can think of. However, when Doom does it, it makes perfectly odd sense. Danger Mouses playful beats compliment MF and consist of mostly funky horns, keys and strings in a stylistic yay, its lunchtime way. Danger Doom is a definite indie-hop collaboration groundbreaker. So you must learn. You must listen or you must die.
Lance Saunders

Can-i-bus

Hip Hop for Sale

Babygrande

Street: 11.17

Can-i-bus G-Unit DMP Def Squad

Can-i-bus? No, not anymorethat is, if these are even YOUR written rhymes to begin with. I mean, how could a person get famous off of spitting someone elses rhymes and expect and lingering respect to last for five albums? This c.d. is polished crap. Canibus trademark of fierce lyrical intensity dwindles on punch lines that dont deliver, love songs that make me want to throw my stereo (with this album inside) out of my window, and cameos by no-name/talent emcees out to make a dollar off the Babygrande bandwagon type royalties. I really wanted to give this record a positive review, but that would be going against every honest bone in my body. Oh, the music? Well, the beats are all the same and prove easy to bob your head to in a mindless sort of way, while Canibus delivers his half monotone/half yell raps that go in one ear and out the other. Sorry Canny-Banother flopper. Lance Saunders

Fort Minor

The Rising Tide