Album Results
Album Reviews
A DJ with both a twisted sense of humor and an equally twisted sense of funk is a rare find, and if you haven't already found Duncan Beiny (a.k.a. DJ Yoda), then let this be your introduction to a DJ who basically believes that everything is hip hop, if it's delivered with the proper attitude and in a sufficiently funky context. That explains the wildly catholic range of the live set he delivered for this series: a set that includes entries by Ice Cube ("Jackin' for Beats"), Run DMC ("It's Tricky"), Violent Femmes ("Blister in the Sun", on which turntable scratches double the intro's snare-drum accents), Adam F ("Circles") and even Minnie Riperton ("Lovin' You", which you didn't think could actually be made funky, did you?). His intention isn't ironic -- "If I love a song, I'll play it," he says. But there's a delicious element of whimsy to this set, one that imports elements of "Blister in the Sun" into the intro to Handsome Boy Modeling School's "Holy Calamity" and includes the Hot 8 Brass Band's instrumental version of "Sexual Healing" and winds up with a brilliant slice of vintage calypso courtesy of the legendary Lord Kitchener. Even the occasional misstep (like DJ Class's idiotic "Tear Da Club Up") works as a crooked thread in this richly varied musical tapestry. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
Track Listing
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Love Lockdown KanYe West |
| KanYe West keeps on challenging the limits of hip-hop: if "Graduation" was his pop album, the first single from "808s and Heartaches" sees the star going all soulful and expanding the most spiritual side of former highlights such as "Jesus Walk" or "Can't Tell me Nothing". Arguably the first interactive recording ever made, thanks to the KanYe's official blog; when the original mix was posted, many fans reacted sending an avalanche of negative feedback; maybe it was the use of popular pitch-altering software autotune, abused in recent times by everyone from Cher to T-Pain, that led the audience to revolt and ended up with the notorious perfectionist re-recording the vocals and adding some taiko drums to highlight its minimal beat, imitating a heart pounding; posting it again afterwards for general approval. Not happy with that, he later went the Radiohead way, making six different stems (vocals, drums, piano, etc.) available for fans to remix the song themselves. "Love Lockdown" can be seen as West upgrading himself from rapper to proper soul singer and is one of his more inspired and powerful moments to date. A mind-blowing closing performance at this year's VMAs ignited a chart frenzy all over the world and it looks set to last for a few months. | |
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