(Vice) CD & 2LP
The mysterious King Khan, a native Montrealer, leads this wild pack (they’re a 10-piece!) of psychedelic garage dogs. This is as authentic as it gets for modern garage revival – a healthy mess of R&B is littered all over The Shrines’ racket of jangly guitars & blaring horns. Here, VICE capitalizes on a brilliant (but historically hard to obtain) back catalog & compiles the good stuff into one wholesome meal. For fans of Black Lips, The Sonics & quality 60’s-influenced racket in general. Please listen. You will likey.
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19 June 2008 by Chris Long
| Pop / Rock, Soul / Funk
(Motown) CD & LP
Quirky? Sure, but over the years, Erykah Badu has managed to avoid straying from her path of integrity & focus on music. On New Amerykah, Badu enlists A-List production to backdrop her brilliant ideas; Sa Ra, ?uestlove & 9th Wonder are on point (especially on the heartfelt ode to J Dilla “Telephone”), but it’s “The Healer/Hip Hop” that makes you wish that Madlib would give up Quasimoto’s godforsaken ghost & just focus on working with bonafied artists like Badu (and Doom of course). Badu turns in some great beats herself (check Tribe Called Quest Midnight Marauders-era vibe of “The Cell”…) for a great synthesis of her individual voice & oooweeoo steez with warm, rhythmically rich hip-hop production.
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29 April 2008 by Chris Long
| Hip-Hop, Soul / Funk
