saint cornelius -- Future Funk Since '73
Very nice packaging on his. Kind of makes me feel ashamed of what I sent people, but it'll do. He also included lyrics for every track that has lyrics. Nice. Me, I just scribbled nigh-unreadable stuff down. I'm sorry.
Cappo - Spaz the World: Very good. Has a very raw sound. Thanks to Saint Cornelius's lyrics booklet, I can understand what he's saying. I've never heard of this guy, but does he happen to be British? I don't listen to much rap -- I listen to some; and no, not Jurassic 5 -- but I looked him up and it doesn't seem he's got much hold over the US market. 7/10
M83 - Run Into Flowers (Abstrakt Keal Angram remix): Glitch whatever music. I love it. I like Prefuse 73 a lot, and this reminds me of that. 9/10
Prefuse 73 - Kev Intro '99 : Logical progression from the last track. Like this a lot. Great, but not when you've got a headache. 9/10
The Weather - Exaggerated Joy: In my opinion, another great track considering what's preceding. Never heard of these/this guys/guy, but I'm definitely very interested. I like the samples; I like the singing(?). I like the beat. Very good. I definitely want to hear more. 8/10
Pest - Dr. Ums: Again, very similar in tone and sound to the last few tracks. You've done a great job with that. The intro to the song is a bit overlong maybe, but once it gets going, I really like what I hear. I like the way the guy flows, and the beat is pretty good. Again, I'd definitely like to hear more. 9/10
People Under the Stairs - Code Check: Don't like this. Too simplistic for me. Sounds too much like that feel-good stuff a group like Jurassic 5 would put out. But again, I'm not a very good authority on this sort of music. 4/10
The Latin Project - Lei Lo Lai: I'm not a very big fan of merengue -- having grown up around it. I like the music it's layered over. I mean, I'm assuming that's not the original track. If it is, stupid me. My mom likes this, though. And you know what, even though I'm not the biggest fan of this sort of music, it's making me feel pretty good. Like I said before, I like the music it's layered over; it'd make for very good driving music by itself. Although -- a big disclaimer -- it's basically a step up from elevator music, aside from the horns (typical instruments for this sort of music). 6/10
Ugly Duckling - A Little Salsa (P.U.T.S. remix): Blah. Sounds corny. I can't get over the "This is just a little salsa" line. And like the People Under the Stairs track, it just sounds a little too fluffy for me. The lyrics suck, too. In fact, there's this one part where it sounds like that Juvenile track where he goes, "Where she get that ass from? She get it from her mama!" I don't like the beat or the music, either. 3/10.
Dabrye - The Lish: Like Prefuse and M83, IMO. I just really like this sort of music. I wouldn't even know if it were uninspired, though, because I'm just sort of enamored with the sound. It's very entrancing. Whatever the case, I like this track a lot. I like the sax. Very smooth. I wouldn't listen to it if I had a headache, though! 8/10
Nettle - Gutted (Mehmet Irdel remix): It's okay. Nothing special, but it goes along with the tone of earlier tracks. If you like dnb, this may be pretty serviceable. 6/10
Jay-Z vs. The Beatles - Dirt Off Your Shoulder (DJ Danger Mouse remix): Hmm, I like this a lot. And I don't like Jay-Z at all. The music really complements his flow. Nice. The sad thing is, a friend of mine sent me this album a while ago. It's still just sitting there. But at least I now have a reason to check the rest out. Thanks, saint cornelius! 9/10
Amen Andrews - 1000001 Style: This is the sort of song you listen to twice and think it's fun, and then never want to listen to again. It's energetic, sure, but I can't find anything particularly innovative or interesting about it. I at least like that there are changes in the tempo of the song. Now that I think of it, this sounds like something you'd hear in Jet Set Radio. One of the songs you don't really pay attention to -- you just take for granted. 5/10
Blackalicious - Beyonder: I think Blackalicious is great. I like almost everything I've heard by them, and this is no exception. The best part is that it basically goes along with most of the tracks on this CD. I've found that a lot of this stuff sounds like it should be played primarily while you're driving at night. Excellent choice. The beat is great, the flow is great, I like the lyrics, and there's a certain depth to this track that I don't hear in a lot of other rap tracks. 9.5/10
HiM - Slow Slow Slow: This isn't the HIM I thought it was going to be, which is a great thing. Very good, and goes along with my feeling that your album is a mostly nighttime deal. I'll definitely try checking other stuff by these guys out. 8/10
Bugz in the Attic - Zombie 2003 (featuring Wunmi): Would be good without the "Bugz in the attic collect no static" thing going on in the background. That definitely halves my enjoyment of the song. I can't get past things like that. Because even though it goes away, anytime I'd want to hear this song I'd have to endure that cheesy stuff first. And then it comes back when you think they're done with that. "Oh yeah, yeah!" How about No. 4/10.
Droop Capone - Reign: OK, but just OK. 6/10.
Company Flow - Still Standin': This sounds kind of bad. I find the sound unpleasant, and it's boring. 2/10.
Ugly Duckling - Another Samba: Would've been fine without the rapping. I don't know anything about Ugly Ducking, but from what I've heard, they're just a little too cute for me. 4/10.
I may not have loved everything, but I heard a lot of things I've taken interest in. In the end, that's all that's really important. I won't give the actual collection of songs a score, but I, for the most part, enjoyed it. Even if I didn't enjoy some songs, it's always cool to hear something new.