Music of the Weak: We’ve All Got That Pescado Smell

Jay-Z – “D.O.A. (Death of AutoTune)”

So it’s come to this. Jay-Z is starting beef with machines now. Don’t get me wrong—dude is paying attention. Whether or not he actually believes that AutoTune and ringtone rap is driving the rap industry toward “The Great Depression,” Jay-Z is filling a niche. He’s putting a musical voice to something that plenty of people legitimately feel. Except that Jay-Z tends to be the one starting the trends, not dismissing them. (Notice how I carefully use the present tense of “tend,” because I hold out hope that this Blueprint 3 debacle that we’re heading toward will only be a phase.) It’s as if The Rolling Stones had kicked off Some Girls with a track called “Disco Sucks,” instead of railing against their naysayers with “Miss You.” Jay-Z just seems a little like he’s whining, and it’s not sexy. Plus, Jay has a way of making his opponent’s argument for him (cf, that weird little “Wonderwall” thing.) Here, he brings in Kanye to back up No ID’s production—which nearly lifts Janko Nilovic’s “In the Space” in its entirety—and “sing” Steam’s “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” for the “hook.” Thing is, as Kanye’s weak vocals attest, the song would probably be greatly improved with AutoTune. See picture.

Das Racist – “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Wallpaper Remix)”

This sad song in which two friends wander around the same Pizza Hut/Taco Bell without ever being able to find each other reaches Samuel Beckett levels of profundity. Time and space cease to exist. Identity is called into question. Senses come alive. The journey is merely at its beginning. We are all in the Pizza Hut. We are all in the Taco Bell. We are all in the Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

Dirty Projectors – “Stillness is the Move”

Talking about the Dirty Projectors seems like it’s got to be a lot of work— conceptually, they’re the highest of the high-concept bands, so it feels mandatory to trot out references to Yale’s School of Music, rhythmic changes, Timbaland, their album-length cover of Black Flag’s Damaged, string quartets, and the African influences on David Longstreth’s guitar playing. By all rights, Bitte Orca, the band’s latest album, should groan under the weight of its own pretentions. It doesn’t, largely because of the cohesive songwriting that ties all of those disparate pieces together. “Stillness is the Move,” the album’s lead single and stand-out track, has a whiff of novelty about it, as Amber Coffman sings about getting a job as a waitress over a beat that could easily support either Vampire Weekend or Themselves. The chorus is pure sugar—“After all that we’ve been through/I know we’ll make it”—with lyrics rumored to be snaked from an Excel spreadsheet of pop clichés. The bland plays that sweetness off of a pitchy, abrasive guitar line, so that it’s enticing and off-putting at the same time. At TFO headquarters, we’ve been playing this one non-stop. Who knows if it’ll hold up over time, but this is the first time in a while—or at least since Gang Gang Dance’s “House Jam”—we’ve gotten a hold of an indie rock song we don’t quite know what to do with.

DJ Quik & Kurupt – “9X Outta 10”

Turns out 2009 has been a pretty great year for the rap music so far, especially compared to the bottomless fuckpit that was 2008. MF Doom, Mos Def and UGK put out career albums while newer talents like Finale, Blu and Theophilus London are making smaller ripples of their own—and God knows how many Wu-Tang related projects are slated to come out by the end of the year. Amidst all this, DJ Quik & Kurupt have garnered the best press of their respective, perennially under-rated careers for their collaboration, BlaQKout. Lead single “9X Out of 10” is a master class in hip-hop production, and lyrical tension. Quik starts out with a minimal beat that The Clipse would fall all over themselves to rap on, and slowly tweaks it out with chopped up operatic vocal clips. Kurupt brings a dense flow with such momentum that he doesn’t even stop with Quik gets on the mic. It is, however, still unclear what exactly is happening nine times out of ten.

The Bling Blongs – “Smells Like Teen Spirit (Live at M1-5)”

We don’t fuck around.

-Martin Brown, 2009

Comments

[Spitfire]

I'm at the combination Baskin Robbins/Dunkin Donuts. Where are you?

[Nina]

Yo, I'm at the combination Roy Rogers/Nathan's. Where you is?

[Tucker Stone]

AT WORK

[Kenny Cather]

Marty, I'm going to disagree with you about everything in your Jay-Z review. Jay-Z is the ultimate commercial ringtone rap - the song is so hypocritical I can't stand it. I'm still anxiously awaiting Blueprint 3 because it's supposed to be chock full of Kanye West & No ID beats. (Although, I'd *much* rather have No ID back producing for Common Sense!)

As for Mos Def - I do not like the new album. It's not as bad as Tru3 Magic, but nothing ever can be - that was the worst thing ever made. The Ecstatic is slightly less lazy than Tru3 Magic, but not by much. Mos needs to stick to acting if he's just going to phone it in all the time.

I've never heard of Dirty Projecters, but if they're as pretentious as Vampire Weekend, I think I'm better off.

Quik & Kurrupt - it feels like it's about 15 years too late to care, which is a shame. Quik squandered sooooooo much talent....

Well, I'm out of songs.... Doom's newest is *phenomenal*. Street Sweeper Social Club - I'm not sure if it's disappointing, or if I was just hoping for too much. Major Lazers is fun!!! And the new George Harrison remaster sounds sooooooo much better than that remastered All Things Must Pass that's out there.

I enjoy your column as always!

[seth hurley]

I'm in the dumpster behind TGI Fridays, pick me up. Honk twice!

[david brothers]

I'm okay with D.O.A. because it led to this: http://2dopeboyz.okayplayer.com/2009/06/17/royce-da-59-doa-redemption/

Mos Def-wise... Ecstatic is his best since B.O.B.S. It's just a ridiculously well put-together record, and one that's off the beaten path enough to be pretty memorable. I'm pretty sure I listened to it for three or four days straight when it leaked, and then bought it as soon as I had a chance on Amazon.

I keep meaning to check out that BlaQKout record. Quik has a habit of dropping either coasters or bangers, with very little in-between, and Kurupt is an underratd lyricist.

Kinda funny that it's one of like three albums named some variation of "Blackout" in a two month period, though.

[Sean Witzke]

Move over Hurley, those old fries look like they're still good.

[Zebtron A. Rama]

wow that Dirty Projectors stuff sounds pretty interesting. Always dismissed them as overproduced nonsense covering up mediocre songwriting. My bad. I wonder how the rest of the album is.

I'm at the combination A&W/DunkinDonuts.

[Sean Witzke]

I am completely stuck on "9x Outta 10" now, Marty. It's like Premier decided to make the Clipse look bad and kick ass while doing it.

[Sean Witzke]

Weirdly phrased that - I mean that Quik was doing Premier-level job at it.