View The Review
8 out of 10
Eclectic is an over used word these days. It is used with wild abandon to describe any act that doesn't write 13 identical songs & I hate words being misused. Not so with this schizophrenic opus from Toronto's club regular & Brittany Spears producing duo. I'm so confused by this record, but I like it, A lot. In fact I can't stop listening to it because its (whispering) eclecticism is downright addictive.
Second track "The Whole City's Got A Cold" is not only an awesome name for a song, but an incredibly danceable dark & dirty track that would have me on any dancefloor in seconds. It's not subtle, but it's still a clever metaphor for the rise in coke use. Third track Wolves comes off like a Florence & The Machine Dance remix & it works.
I really hated 50 Cent's "Candy Shop" I found it to be the one of the most offensive things I have ever heard & was amazed the video was shown well before watershed. I've met 50 cent, briefly, he looks like he is made from plastic & for someone who makes a living with words, I couldn't understand a single thing he said.
I mention this because it goes someway to explaining why I have such a fondness for stand out track "Internet Pornstar" seemingly an ode to cam girls (If you don't know what they are, it's like Chatroulette, but way more expensive & you are guaranteed some boob.) I like the idea of an MC not banging on about how many lay-dees he has had in his bed, even going so far as to tell us a tale of the exact opposite.
Don't get me wrong there are some missed moments on this record, but it changes & moves with such a pace that they are quickly forgotten for the next moment of brilliance that smacks you on the backside & tells you to start moving, or get to the bar.
A good example of this is miss-spelt sixth track "Push Up Ya Lighta!" which quite frankly kicks ass. It unrelentingly bombards you with the (imagined) sights & (real) sounds that revolutionary artists like M.I.A have created with the darkness & aggression of a Roll Deep track like "Heat Up". I can imagine behaving really really badly to in a club & feel damn doing it with this in the background.
One of the greatest things about this record, that isn't present in much of the charts laden with identikit Timberland cloned over produced drivel, are the surprises: Hold on, track eight are you seriously sampling Ben Folds Five? If not then he must have possessed the intro. Hot Damn. Then "Driving" harks back to "Hey Ya" or any of the other future retro Andre 3000 joints. Nice.
The last track sort of loses me completely; Maybelline is a slow ballad, well produced with some interesting sounds, but it seems like such a damp squib to go out on.
For all the T Pain iPhone app using, pseudo ballers best watch out, I think we have a record here that's good enough to go to war with, the beats are bombs & I for one am ready to fight. (Probably for the right to party)
Listen: www.myspace.com/letsgotowarmusic
Tracklist:
1. Burn Down The Disco
2. The Whole City's Got A Cold
3. Wolves
4. Internet Pornstar
5. Life We Live
6. Push Up Ya Lighta!
7. Pennychaser
8. Don’t Love Me
9. Drivin’
10. Maybelline
No comments:
Post a Comment