Quantic: Off The Beaten Track

I always like to know who I'm listening to when I'm enjoying music I haven't heard before but when I'm genuinely intrigued by what I'm hearing I want to know names, dates and more. So, you can imagine how distracting it was to have a friend casually drop a gem in my lap on a CD-R with no track list, no album title, no nothing. Just one word scrawled on it: Quantic.

Quantic is Will Holland, a man who lists both Fugazi and James Brown as influences. That should give you a pretty good idea of the range he possesses and one listen to "Tell It Like You Mean It" from his album An Announcement To An Answer will drive that point home. The song begins with slow, warbling horns alternating between two notes over some extremely subtle lo-fi fuzz before launching into an almost cuban-sounding drumloop. He quickly molds it into an electronic song while still holding onto the same sentiment before bringing you back right where you started. And he does it in less than five minutes.

My favorite thing about this guy? The man loves vinyl. And probably obsessively, if his album Off The Beaten Track is any indication. The album was limited-print CD released almost exactly two years ago of 25 rare soul/funk/afro-cuban/jazz tracks from his 45 collection. The album starts with someone lightly tapping on a snare, barely grazing a cymbal and gently keeping time with a bass drum. The reason I use "someone" is because the official track list for the album might not exist anywhere except on the actual CD insert. Not only is this album no longer for sale anywhere (unless you find it used), but Quantic doesn't even have the track list available on his website. Not even my most trusted vinyl source, Dusty Groove America Dusty Groove could help me out. Interestingly, I found the name for most of the tracks on Vinyl Vulture's Vinyl Vulture message board from a bunch of music geeks who, I must say, had some pretty impressive knowledge. But that was only about 75% of the album they could decipher.

The whole album is flawless, in my opinion, but here are the tracks that made my ears perk up (luckily, I found the titles of them):

Let's Make it Funky

Why Don't They Leave Us Alone

Kristian

Hip Hop is in the Building

I'm not going into some long-winded spiel about how stale rap and Hip Hop is right now as that's the diatribe du jour that's been on repeat for about 6 months now, thanks to your boy Nas. But, instead here's a bit of respite from the trite/tired Hip Hop is Dead cliches that have been provided by blogs, websites, mags and even myself at times.

I think emcees and rappers are starting to get the picture. Major record labels and their multi-million dollar marketing budgets are not going to jolt fans out of their album-copping hibernation; neither are pre-orchestrated or spontaneous beefs that spur from nothing more than a passing whim. What's going to get people excited about Hip Hop again is the same thing that got people excited a decade ago or two decades ago: quality music. A recent trend has emerged on the net; one that is pleasing to my taste and my slim pockets. Emcees are leaking their own music and not just the crap were they throw a bunch of feckless rhymes together and say something along the lines of "what do you expect, it's just a freestyle" but they're actually putting out tracks of considerable substance. And the ironic thing is that the person who started this trend is none other then the one who underground enthusiasts consider to be the anti-christ of all that is Hip Hop, Lil Wayne. However, I'm not going to go down that route as that's another discussion for another day on another site. With that said, below you'll find some links for FREE mixtapes of artists who leaked their own music that's actually...well, kind of dope.

SkyZoo-The Cornerstore Classic


Naledge-Naledge is Power


Chamillionaire-Mixtape Messiah pt. 3


Sean Price-M.a.s.t.e.r. P


J. Burnett

Betty...Ms Davis If You're NASTY

Before Lil Kim was even old enough to gurgle her first sexually-explicit phrase through the bars of her crib, Betty Davis was making jaws drop with her straight-forward sexuality and indisputable talent.

Even if given only a quick listen, the music from her albums paint grand pictures of her live performances but it's the lyrics that provide even more vivid ideas of what her on-stage persona must have been like. Imagine, if you can, what the music entertainment landscape must have looked like when she appeared.

It's 1973. The top three songs getting rotation on African-American radio stations are Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On', Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition' and Gladys Knight and The Pips' 'Neither One of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye).' Now, even though Marvin's song sounds like cotton candy compared to most of the music made today, it's true that for that time it was probably one of the more comparatively vulgar songs getting played. However, one glaring fact remains: Marvin was a man and, let's face it, it's never been incredibly shocking for males to express their sexuality or make their erotic intentions public information especially in the music industry. So, when an overtly sexy woman comes along singing a song called "Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him" about how she 'can't help herself', you can imagine the stir it might have caused. Let a few more lyrics digest:

"I'm going to do it 'til the cows come home/
I'm going to do it 'til the chicken crows/
I'm going to move it slow like a mule/
I'm going to do it, yes, I'm going to do it"

You couldn't expect much less from a woman who was able to intensely influence the personal and professional life of Jazz giant Miles Davis whom she was married to for only one year. Aside from appearing on the cover of his 1969 album Filles de Kilimanjaro which also featured a song entitled "Mademoiselle Mabry (Miss Mabry)", she also served as the link between soul, jazz and rock. Not only did she introduce legends Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone to Miles Davis, she also found herself sonically supported by a number of impressive musicians. From Sly and the Family Stone and Tower of Power to the Pointer Sisters contributing to the tone and texture of her music, Betty was obviously a powerful performer if she could garner not only the respect but the help of artists of that caliber.

Sadly, history swept soul's sexy sweetheart's artistic endeavors beneath the proverbial rug and hid a true gem that defied the era's social and artistic expectations. Her self-titled album was released in 1973 and although it included all the big names, it still did not gain any commercial success. The same was true for the following two albums. It might have been due, in part, to her overtly sexual persona which drew protests and boycotts to her live performances and got her music banned from radio stations across the country.

But, to the glee of music geeks and vinyl vultures everywhere, her first two studio albums were re-released on May 1st by Seattle label Light in the Attic Records proving true talent is truly timeless. Do yourself a favor and purchase her music. It's worth pulling your wallet out.
Keep your ears open for the masochistic tune rumored to be about innovative guitarist Jimi Hendrix on her second album They Say I'm Different. Yes, she said 'turquoise chain.'


Kristian

Favorite Things Pt. II: Mega Mix

Last week I did something similar where I posted a collage of music--past, present and future. This week shouldn't be any different should it??? That, my friends, would be uncivilized. This time I merged all of the tracks into one track so it actually seems like a mix instead of a batch of links--links that took a long time to load--like last week. So without further to say, here's the link to the mix

Mega Mix

PS-I'm not a DJ, so don't expect coherency, matching BPMs or for it to make any sense at all for that matter. The only link between these artists are that they all produce good music.

New Common: Break My Heart

Common is probably the poster child for quality Hip Hop music that infuses passion, creativity and raw talent. I've supported him from Can I Borrow a Dollar to the present. July 31st, Finding Forever, his seventh LP will drop and from what I've heard it's sounding pretty good. Here's one of my favorites so far...

Common-Break My Heart

J. Burnett

JUSTICE † (Cross) Review

JUSTICE †, 2007 VICE RECORDS, ED BANGER

JUSTICE is comprised of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay. Some considered the pair to be next in line to take DAFT PUNK'S throne after their depressing Human After All album and breathe some life back in the Dance genre. The † (or Cross) album released July 10, 2007 is JUSTICE'S first official release after a slew of dance remixes dating all the way back to 2003. With as much anticipation as a Harry Potter novel, † is here and all the critics including myself agree upon one thing which is that this album is decent; but certainly not great.

With all the hoopla and anxiety that led up to this album, I have to admit that this album was on the right track and JUSTICE definitely has cemented themselves as a group with a promising future. Songs on the album such as "Newjack," "Phantom II," "Stress," "Genesis," "One Minute to Midnight" and "D.A.N.C.E" are good songs paired with the all ready familiar "Waters of Nazareth" and "Phantom." The guys know how to expand sounds and they don't stop until your ears have been totally obliterated which is the only reason why I feel the album suffers. The loudness sometimes detracts from the actual musicianship and perfectionism put into the songs. Unlike DAFT PUNK, JUSTICE uses a arsenal of Lo-Fi sounds, distorted samples and Vocoded guitars as a crutch which says to the masses that we're louder, harder, and will rock you out of your happy disco existence. The songs are glitchy, industrial, and loud which is good or bad depending on the listener. As for The "Party," "Let There Be Light," and "DVNO" all of which left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I'm not sure why these songs were approved to be on the album. Uffie's style makes "The Party" sound contrived, "DVNO" is just a throwaway track with a throwaway singer, and well..."Let there Be Light" is just irritating and annoying. Last but not least, is "Valentine." You'll have to ask JUSTICE what they were thinking by putting this track on the album as I believe they probably wanted the remixers to do something with it. Anyway, I dig the album and I think it deserves to be in the middle of any DJ or avid music listeners catalog. Recommended Songs: "Genesis," "Newjack," "Phantom II," "D.A.N.C.E"

Check out the mini-mix.

Justice Mini-Mix

Van-Go Tha Hustla

Villains Gotta Eat Too: MF Doom MM Food Re-Release

Next Tuesday, July 24th, MF Doom is re-releasing MM Food. The LP originally came out in 04; dope album, not as good as Operation Doomsday or Madvillainy but definitely better than 97.3% of rap albums that came out since then and recently, for that matter, which would make it a damn good. I just finished listening to it actually and I enjoyed it (alot) and I hate on EVERYthing. If you haven't experienced MF yet, it would be a good starter and if you have...why not kick a few dollars to your favorite supervillain.

J. Burnett