Hello lovely readers, the last month was March and some items of interest occurred during its 4-week reign, namely:
SXSW happened: Skrillex’s performance led to the creation of a thousand think pieces on a thousand blogs that debated and evaluated every aspect of those thudding bass drops until, bloodied and weeping, Sonny Moore hung himself in a backstage urinal, wrenching off his signature luscious locks and garrotting himself as he whispered “I just wanted to be taken seriously, I love Aphex Twin, I once offered Ryan Schreiber oral pleasure in exchange for a 7.4”. The union representing emo kids who converted to dubstep “way before it got big man” and middle aged men with mohicans is yet to release a press statement. The ASAP crew beat the shit out of some bloggers in an effort to show off their rock hard attitude and snatch the position of the toughest rap crew in the US whilst Odd Future are busy disappearing up their own arseholes in a flurry of sold out shows, fuck-awful sketches and overpriced merch. Cloud Nothings were supposed to have been pretty good.
In other Odd Future news, the gang dropped “The OF Tape Volume 2” to largely positive reviews. It’s a pretty decent showcase of the groups stylistic disparity and gave us hope for their future in the form of the ten minute posse cut “Oldie” and Mike G’s dense and thuggish “Forest Green”, which marked his transition from background player to force to be reckoned with. Although its defining feature must surely be OF’s abandonment of their misogynistic lyrical bent in favour of several tracks that are like listening to cats hugging. Oh, hang on, three of the tracks have Bitch in the title, forget that last bit.
Andrew WK announced that he is to reissue the 2001 classic LP I Get Wet on July 17th. Not much to say on this other than, with luck, it’ll lead to Party Hard seeing a pseudo-ironic revival amongst trendy young things and WK’s unbeatable outfits inspiring a new generation to embrace the sport trainer/ white trouser combination.
And with great sadness, we bid farewell to a band that burned briefly yet so brightly. I am of course talking of the late great Viva Brother. Emerging from 2010 as the kings of the UK’s music scene, a succession of hit singles preceded their astonishing debut “Famous First Words” captured the hearts and minds of millions and inspired Pitchfork to declare them “possibly better than Sufjan”, which is high praise indeed. So let’s all grab a drink, stick “The Darling Buds of May” on and raise a toast to those kings of men.
Lastly, here are some releases we’ve been rinsing senseless in Sound Influx’s theoretical offices:
Slow Animal – Slow Animal
“With their self titled debut album, it is evident they have progressed since their initial demos. The energy is higher, the drumming is fiercer, the songs are more detailed. A lot of the initial demos seemed to centre on small helpings of chords that often repeated. Not to say that is a bad thing, they’re still great songs, but with their debut release, the songs are a lot more fleshed out and mature. The band have evidently progressed.”
"World, You Need A Change Of Mind is exactly what you would expect from this Peterborough-based pioneer who seems to be capable of reviving any genre that’s thrown his way and make it relevant. A brilliant record that’s not going to be kept secret so tell your brother, tell your sister, tell your mother."
“It is surprising how well the blend of different styles of music work on this record. The combination of Irish folk, gospel and almost hip-hop style synthed drums makes the record feel all-encompassing in its approach to the topics at hand. Despite this however, it is the most stereotypical anthem tracks that stand out. The title track challenges the system to bring down our homes, and the stunning ‘Land Of Hope And Dreams’ is about the promise of a better life, one that is out there if we a willing to search for it.”
Sean Collinson’s glowing 9.0 for the Boss’ newie is here.
Similar to previous releases from Odd Future, “Rella”, the first track released from ‘OF Tape Vol. 2’, is overshadowed by controversy, this time for its accompanying video. In a nutshell, Hodgy Beats fires lasers from his crotch that turn people into cats, Domo Genesis slaps a woman so hard she changes race, and Tyler, The Creator appears as a cocaine-snorting centaur. Nothing out of the ordinary for Odd Future, and nothing that will please anybody they have offended previously. Then again, did you really think they were going to behave themselves this time around?
As for the track itself, “Rella” is nothing out of the blue. Left Brain provides the music, a bouncing, attention-seeking, adrenaline shot of a backing track that runs out of steam after three-and-a-half minutes. As for the lines spat out of all three mouths; Marilyn Manson and Speedy Gonzalez are amongst the name-checked, all three talk about sex in a misogynistic way, and there is the usual mention of “swag”. Yet again, exactly what we expect from Odd Future.
“Rella” is used as a nickname for someone who does crazy things and feels no shame. Whether this is a direct reference to Odd Future themselves is up for debate. Yet there is something about “Rella” that is just so incredibly addictive, whether the video was created to shock or to amuse, it’s difficult to pry yourself away from it’s madness. And despite this being nothing groundbreaking from the rap collective, who really cares when it’s this intriguing? However, if they are expected to stay afloat in a sea of emerging rap artists, they might want to try something different. Even the most disturbing things they can dream up wouldn’t be as shocking as a new musical direction.
The sequel to the Odd Future Tape begins with ‘Hi’ an enlightening insight into the members and history of Odd Future or “dusty ass motherfuckers” as L-Boy refers to them as. And of course the usual hijinks are there! Plenty of insults, plenty of swearing and of course, the obligatory mention of “Free Earl”
Quite a lot has changed since the first Odd Future Tape came out in 2008. Earl’s come and gone and come back again, they’ve matured a hell of a lot, and realised that they don’t have to rap about violence and misogyny to entertain people! They’ve also increased in members which makes the Tape Vol.2 feel more like Radical then the first Odd Future Tape. And like Radical, The Odd Future Tape Vol. 2 is ideal for new fans as it showcases each individual of the group perfectly and as a collection of songs, is totally unique.
At times The Odd Future Tape Vol. 2 comes across as repetitive with songs like ‘Bitches’, ‘We Got Bitches’ and ‘Real Bitches’ (notice a pattern there?) sounding a little too similar by following the traditional, misogynistic, aggressive Odd Future approach. Those songs will also help rile up us feminists with lyrics such as “I need a real bitch who can make French toast and suck dick”. Misogyny in hip hop? How cutting edge. It’s a tired format that makes Odd Future come across as ignorant and just plain stupid. Or maybe I’m just being cynical and taking them too seriously…
But amidst the hyperactive rapping about ‘bitches’, drugs, the Pope and the stress of fame, Frank Ocean comes crooning in with ‘White’, a chilled interlude, which would be more fitting in the middle of the 18 tracks than towards the end. But that doesn’t matter because it’s perfect. Along with ‘White’ tracks like ‘Sam (Is Dead)’, ‘Doms’, ‘NY (Ned Flander)’, and of course ‘Analog 2/Wheels 2’ – a summery follow up to tracks off Goblin and Bastard – prove that Odd Future are capable of great things.
The album ends with ‘Oldie’, a 10 minute rap free for all that features verses from every Odd Future rapper. Even Earl! That’s right, Earl is back. Tyler sums up everything that Odd Future are about in the last few seconds “So instead of critiquing and bitching, being mad as fuck just admit, not only are we talented, we're rad as fuck”. And maybe we should.
Usually foreshadowed by Tyler, The Creator, many of the sub-groups associated with Odd Future don't get as much recognition as the work of the ring leader and founder. Mellowhype, a collaboration between Tyler's hype-man Hodgy Beats and producer Left Brain, seem to be the group causing the most ripples beside Tyler. Hodgy has a much better flow on these albums and his ability to bend words and lyrical structures to suit his purpose is impecable and of a much higher rate than many of the other members of Odd Future. The production styles used are also a massive step up and Left Brain is slowly but surely forging his own "style" within the group.The album is also a lot more radio friendly in comparison to the controversy ridden Goblin (released earlier this year). In terms of their previous output, BlackendWhite is a major step up for the group and is a good platform for the group to expand their reputation.
However the main aspect bringing this album down is the production, which at times is way off with the vocals in the mix being too quiet and causing quite a clash for the instrumental. As with any other Odd Future release, BlackendWhite is littered with other members contributing verses to certain songs (Tyler, Domo Genesis and Frank Ocean all provide vocals). Whilst this shows the depth the group has and adds to the diversity of tracks, it's becoming quite tiresome to see yet more songs being improved by the use of some of the more established artists.
In all, it's a much cleaner polished album and on release, would be a good album from many modern day hip-hop acts but with the entire blogsphere expecting big things of every Odd Future release it just doesn't live up to the hype surrounding it.
