Best Albums of 2009, Part 3: #20-16

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Part 1 - Rules and Runners Up
Part 2 - #25-21


#20

Bad Blood Revival - Tongue Twisting Tunes for Tiny Tots
Dead Broke

Bad Blood Revival sounds a lot like the Jesus Lizard and a little like Slint, so you know they're good. True, they also aren't the most original band on earth, but they do what they do so well that, especially in this era of wussy, conservative anti-rock indie music, it's great to hear someone who isn't afraid to use a distortion pedal from time to time. The post-hardcore songs are clearly influenced by metal and noise rock, with weighty guitars, rage-filled drumming and shrieks. However, under all that great, awful sound, the songs are well-written, with outstanding riffs and a lot of variety. It's not pretty. But it's awesome.

How I found it: a couple of places
Track picks: "Kindling," "Bitter Pill/Aging Punk"
Link: [MySpace]


#19

Wu-Tang Clan - Chamber Music
E1 Entertainment/Universal

Sure, this got eclipsed by Raekwon, and after a while, this record does turn out to be a bit thin - but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. It's a nice comeback after the train wreck that was 8 Diagrams, proving the Wu-Tang still got it. The production is outstanding, using old soul music to give the rap depth and timelessness, while excellent MC'ing from most Wu-Tang members and some pretty great guests is the best we've heard on a Wu-Tang album since the 90's.

Read more from the original RFR review...

How I found it: Sheesh...I think I was first introduced to Wu-Tang Clan by the AllMusic Guide many lifetimes ago.
Track picks: "NYC Crack," "Evil Deeds"
Link: [MySpace]


#18

Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights
Load

Of course, after all the complaining I've done regarding the wussiness of contemporary indie music, it would be remiss of me not to include this raw explosion of pure energy. Lightning Bolt features one very distorted bass and one drum kit, both played as fast and loud as possible. The whirlwind, however, is made of intense musicianship and nothing is random. It's like a bomb going off in your face. If that sounds awful, this album probably isn't for you. That's sad because it's fuckin awesome.

Read more from the original RFR review...

How I found it: been knowin'
Track picks: "Sound Guardians," "Funny Farm"
Link: [MySpace]


#17

Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
ATP

Experimental electronicians Fuck Buttons made one hell of an album. While they are still a long way from convention, Tarot Sport translates their noise/drone into something more easy to grasp. Deep, glitchy grooves dominate each track, while evocative layers drift in and out. The beats are dancy and the rest deeply emotional. Unfortunately, for the length of this album, Fuck Buttons are a one-trick pony and the excitement of track one will fade by the time you get to the end.

How I found it: "Jasper" mentioned it
Track picks: "Surf Solar, "Olympians"
Link: [MySpace]


#16

...and You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Century of Self
Richter Scale

Trail of Dead putting out a great album isn't exactly headline news, because they've been doing that consistently for a while now. They haven't broken new ground in a major way with Century of Self, but their sound is still entirely their own. Equal parts prog, shoegaze and punk, Trail of Dead sounds simultaneously artistic, rich and youthful. Walls of guitar sound break into stunning harmonies but strong melodies and pure energy keep the songs from stalling. There's a lot going on, and I promise you'll still hear something new the hundredth time through.

How I found it: lots of places, obviously
Track picks: "Isis Unveiled," "The Far Pavilions," "Ascending"
Link: [MySpace]


NEXT>> Part 4: #15-11
Part 5: #10-6
Part 6: #5-1

Album: Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II

Album: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II
Ice H20, 2009
Rating: ********* (9/10)

The world has been waiting fourteen years for this follow-up to Raekwon's 1995 solo debut, which was hailed as one of the best rap albums of all time. Raekwon, who got his start in the Wu-Tang Clan, is known as Raekwon the Chef, and OB4CL I chronicled the drama of trafficking coke in intimate detail. Unsurprisingly, OB4CL II returns to these themes, with unsubtle song titles like "Pyrex Vision," "Baggin Crack" and "Ten Bricks."

However, the album seems more linked to the Wu-Tang debut 36 Chambers than to Raekwon's earlier opus. References to the themes and lyrics of that album abound. The entire original Wu-Tang Clan except U-God appears as well - even Ol' Dirty Bastard makes a posthumous appearance on "Ason Jones," a startlingly frank and loving tribute to the WTC founder. (The beat was also laid down by hip-hop master J Dilla before his own untimely death in 2006.)

OB4CL II features relatively few surprises - it remains in the general Wu-Tang style and, as expected, features some of the best hardcore rapping ever recorded. At twenty-three tracks, you'd expect some filler and the types of interludes used by Wu-Tang in the past. However, all two dozen tracks are full-fledged songs, if not all of consistent quality.

When I first listened to the album, the first two tracks didn't play and I didn't notice, so I started with "Sonny's Missing," an extremely (perhaps gratuitously) violent song with a spare, deep, dark beat and naked vocal attack. When I discovered the album actually followed the WTC tradition of including an introductory track, I was disappointed to learn OB4CL II hadn't broken the template at all. The album is simply and sadly not earth-shattering, no matter how good the tracks.

The second song, "House of Flying Daggers," features WTCers Inspectah Deck and Method Man in a well-executed throw back to 36 Chambers, made even edgier, darker and more aggressive. Unfortunately, some of the later WTC-centered tracks grasp less successfully for this hard-edged sound, ending up muddled or stale - "Black Mozart" and "Kiss the Ring" seem confused and overwrought, while "New Wu" slightly misses the (admittedly high) mark.

With over a dozen credited producers, the tracks lack some cohesion. Marley Marl's lazy, minor-key guitar loop on "Pyrex Vision" is followed by Icewater's overdone, orchestral production on "Cold Outside." Scram Jones's melodic sense makes a poor chaser for Allah Mathematics' "Mean Streets" and Dr. Dre's chilled out grooves rest uncomfortably in the midst of a distinctly East Coast album.

The more melodic songs are the most incongruous on the record. "Cold Outside" is a beautiful tune, but trumpets and grandiose production cost it its edge. The female R&B vocals on "Have Mercy" seem half-baked. In general, Icewater-produced songs seem greatly overdone in their heavy orchestration - part of WTC's appeal, and indeed part of the appeal of hardcore rap in general, is its raw minimalism. While the richer backing tracks work in a few places, like the highly dramatized "Canal Street," they mostly just gum up the works.

Better are the stripped, straight-forward beats of "Penitentiary" and "Broken Safety." The former builds painful levels of tension with a fast, high piano pulse on a single uncomfortable interval throughout the entire song. The latter rests on a scraping, metallic bass on the upbeat and little else. "Surgical Gloves" is also worthy of note - the Alchemist's production features cold chiming as if from a video game.

Though most of the songs on the album are excellent, "House of Flying Daggers" and "Canal Street" are both stand-out tracks with enough pop appeal to stick in your memory but enough edge to stand with the WTC's best. "We Will Rob You" is not the best song by any stretch, but the clever humor of the lyrics and the ability to recall the referenced rock song while still sounding like a Raekwon album are certainly worthy of note.

The single strongest track is probably "Broken Safety," which distills the spirit of East Coast rap to its purest form. Guests Jadakiss and Styles P share Raekwon's mic and prove themselves worthy of the role. Straight-forward, unembellished and in your face, "Broken Safety" represents the best of its genre.

"Kiss the Ring" makes for a poor closer, burying talent bellow a jumble of half-articulated ideas. Luckily, the album's bonus track, "Walk with Me," makes a much better finale. The ethereal singing and sparkling wind chimes in the background certainly set it apart, but all the components come together to make a cohesive and powerful statement.

After the disastrous 8 Diagrams, Wu-Tang members have been trying to prove they still have balls. Some of the graphic lyrics in OB4CL II seem unnecessary, especially as Raekwon has nothing to prove. Still, this is probably the heaviest Wu-Tang project to date and in this case, that's a very good thing. As "Broken Safety" explains, "Fuck savin' hip-hop, we bringin' the streets back."

Wu-Tang Forever.

Album: Wu-Tang Clan - Chamber Music

Album: Chamber Music
E1 Entertainment, 2009
Rating: ********* (9/10)

As the album title suggests, Wu-Tang Clan's new LP is a return to the group's roots, their 1993 debut, 36 Chambers. And being sixteen years older and short one Ol' Dirty Bastard, the WTC's new project does remarkably well at recapturing the raw, independent spirit of that first release.

Of course, this isn't nearly that album's equal, but who could expect that? Their debut was hands-down the greatest rap album of the 90's and better than anything in the last decade as well. Kinda hard to top.

The stylistic return could come off as a sad attempt of the group to relive its past glories, or worse, like a childish response to the accusations that the group had gone "soft" with it's last release, 8 Diagrams. But Chamber Music doesn't ignore the last sixteen years. It doesn't ignore the fact that the group has grown up musically and personally, and that the context surrounding their music has also shifted dramatically.

It also doesn't ignore the fact that in addition to ODB's death, several original members have left the fold - the absence of Method Man and GZA is glaring, though the rest of the core crew returns. Any gaps in the group are filled in by a well-selected set of guests, many old-school luminaries predating even the WTC's earliest work. Outstanding contributions from such legendary MCs as Masta Ace and Kool G Rap certainly soften the blow.

The album may be "retro" in its sound, but it is self-consciously so. The beats are largely built around contributions from soul group the Revelations and under RZA's heavy production, the samples sound like a throwback to the 1970's - that is, a throwback to the last time mainstream R&B was actually good. And don't worry that the R&B backing is overkill, there are plenty of stretches of minimalist beats to keep the album from sounding cramped or overwrought. There's still that pure, primal attack that makes fans of early hardcore rap (like me!) very pleased.

The album does include an all-out soul cut, "I Wish You Were Here," but doesn't include the muddle of rapping and sing-song that has plagued so many recent hip-hop releases. This may be because, as in the beats, the soul components in the vocals hearken back to the glory days of soul and R&B instead of mimicking the banal top-forty whiners.

In a way, the vintage sounds unearthed and combined in Chamber Music provide a stunning cross-section of the music's history. Unlike most modern hip-hop, even most modern music in general, Chamber Music not only acknowledges its roots but fully incorporates them. Instead of sounding like a washed up effort to recapture some glory past, the Wu-Tang sound more relevant than ever in the context of the evolution of hip-hop music and culture.

If there was any doubt, consider it gone: Wu-Tang Clan can still do it harder and better than any post-2000 kid. Sixteen years down the road, they still ain't nothing to fuck with.