DJ Honda - H2 (8/10)

(nb! the album title is actually "HII" with the roman numericals but for the sake of clarity, I wrote it out as you would say it to not have it confused with an over-enthusiastic greeting)

"I ain't a blue collar worker, cause this thing called rhymin'

no different from coal mining.

We both on assignment to unearth the diamond.

When you start climbing and then I start shining.

You be stuggling and striving and they think you prime-timing.

Maintain and keep silence, make note and observation.

This confrontation, this is the daily operation."

from Travellin' Man ft Mos Def

The "DJ album" is a concept that seemingly died out and got replaced by pure excercises in turntablism. I don't hate on turntable records, but they mostly feel sort of naked to me- they're like the litteral opposite of a capella records but still missing something. For his second album, japanese DJ Honda, managed to assemble an incredibly impressive range of MC's to rap over his beats. For the most part, the featured rappers deliver solid bars but never outshine Honda's beats as the centerpiece of the album.

Honda's style of production and beat-making is funky and bouncy, mostly influenced by mid 90's east coast production but there's always a certain something eccentric about it that makes you recognize his signature sound. It could be a xylophone sample subtly hidden beneath an otherwise traditional horn loop or a slight distortion added on the bass line but they all serve for you to make the mental connection to him as the central artist even when the featured MC is killing it. Obviously not all the featured artists are great but that's sort of to be expected when you have one or more featured artists on every track

With the production so tight and the MC's mostly performing above average, the biggest downfall of the album, I feel, is Honda's lack of range musically; sure he can make a great sounding esoteric slash funky beat but the beats do end up sounding fairly generic towards the end and there's no doubt he was going through a severe case of xylophone-itis when producing this one.

Apart from that, the album is solid and a vast improvement over his self titled debut.

High point of the album: On the Mic ft. Cuban Link, Ju Ju, A.L. & Missin' Linx

Low point of the album: Blaze It Up ft. Black Attack

The Jam - All Mod Cons (9/10)

"Getting pissed at the annual office do.

Smart blue suit and you went to Cambridge too.

You miss page 3, but the Times is right for you.

And mum and dad are very proud of you, Mr. Clean"

from Mr. Clean

All Mod Cons is the Jam's third album release and represents, to me, how the band managed to reconnect with a successful concept and move forward with it after a disappointing follow-up to an amazing debut.

While The Jam came onto the scene in the late 70's, their sound is more reminiscent of the mid-to-late 60's mod groups than anything. Sure, they weren't unaffected by the rise of new wave and punk but the sound is definitely "moddish"- strong guitar riffs echo through the twelve 3-minute-songs. The guitar moves between soft and dreamy all the way up to hard and fast and sounds really good, while the bass and drums are both mixed to be surprisingly quiet; a shame, especially since the bass doesn't follow the guitar as closely as it often does in these older rock albums.

Much like classic mod acts, Weller's lyrics seem to take pride in discussing both politics and the mundane- on several songs he manages to do both. The general tone of the album is one about Great Brittain and the underlying social issues of that time- social issues that remain alarmingly relevant to this day.

High point of the album: Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

Low point of the album: It's Too Bad

Brother Ali - Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color (4/10)

"Sick of all this but can't take an off day.

Doctor's office, I can't swing the co pay.

Trapped in a network, lucky just to get work.

They celebrate every week, nobody gets hurt.

Greed could never leave well enough alone.

They keep on squeezing 'til we bleed from every bone.

And we'll strive hard and stress about the rent-

probably still die poor and in debt without a cent."

from Work Everyday

"Mourning in America etc" starts off Brother Ali's throaty voice over a beat so quiet you can hardly hear it. He talks about how he belives in America's ability to be "what it says it is" and laments the fact that I, the listener, would rather hear him rap about nonsense. I'm gonna be blunt here- I wouldn't. I would like to hear Brother Ali rap about anything other than his son, his ex wife and being a muslim. I imagine the political and financial state of America is a relevant subject to anyone in the world and would absolutely love to hear him rap about that and if he doesn't want to that's cool.

After two fairly boring tracks about nonsensical subjects, we get to the title track "Mourning in America" where Brother Ali takes the time to talk about the horrifying war campaigns of his country as well as the systematic incarceration of poor people to use as labor power. Unfortunately while the lyrics will occasionally touch on the topics he promised in the intro, the analysis is shallow and leaves the album little more than hooks and beats.

Brother Ali's writing is at best, I feel, when telling stories. He's never been much of a punchline rapper. The narrative of the album tends to just be about what's going on in his life, though, which I'm frankly not that interested in(I actually had to unfollow his fan page on facebook because it just took over my feed completely). The production, well, since he split with Ant(of Atmosphere fame) there's been a distinct drop-off in quality. That's not to say it's bad, it's not- just bland and uninspired. The beats could be a great backdrop for a hungrier MC, but not for someone who seems to have conceded making relevant music.

Overall, this is just another depressing release from Brother Ali, who I more and more fear will never release another relevant album like his debut "Shadows on the Sun".

High point of the album: Singing This Song

Low point of the album: Need A Knot

Non-Prophets - Hope (10/10)

"Ah, forget it; it's actually accepted for rappers to have no ethics.

Their albums would benefit if they put in half the effort.

I attended candlelight vigils for Matthew Sheppard

While you put out another 'fuck you, faggot'-record."

from That Ain't Right

While mimicing sounds of the past is certainly not rare in any genre- rock music has arguably been doing it for the last couple of decades, "Hope" was allegedly made in an effort to consciously sound like it came out in 1993. The early 90's represent a time when hip hop was on the cusp of going mainstream and the technology available to unsigned musicians was a limiting factor. As a result, albums from that era have a certain sound and feel to them where beats are blurry and simplistic, loops are short and drums all sound more or less like they were made on an 808(which they probably were).

While I can appreciate the effort to refer to the early 90's as a sort of "Golden Era" and wanting to revisit that place ten years later, I'm not sure whether or not producer Joe Beats and rapper Sage Francis' attempt was a successful one. The album is great, don't get me wrong- like really insane great, but it still comes off as way too complex in both production and lyrical delivery to have been made in -93.

Sage Francis lyrics impresses throughout the album, always complex but never overly so. Where most MC's seem to go for either message or delivery, Sage manages to shine in both departments and delivers thoughtful lyrics through the most advanced rhyme structures you'd have ever heard in -93. The lyrics deal mainly with hip hop as a culture, which is perfectly fitting for the artistic concept behind the album. Tongue in cheek jabs at other rappers, current political issues and old-fashioned boasting all appear as lyrical themes on the album, as well as some more unorthodox- the song "Disasters" being about children and more specifically artists making music about children("I've got a mouth to feed too, and it lives on my face/in a house that's see-through and it's your kid's mom's place/baby mama drama blah blah blah/I've got a problem but I'm not sitting on top of a barbarian chair/with rastafarian hair").

Sage's playful yet cynical lyrics are the biggest take-away from the album for sure, but the production is always top-notch as well; at times Joe Beats lays on the scratching a bit too much but the beats manage to sound good even when they're as simple as a bassline over a breakbeat and the minimalist style is perfectly executed on songs like "Any Port", "Fresh" and "New World Order".

There is no reason to not love this album.

High point of the album: Fresh

Low point of the album: The Cure