[2006] J Dilla - The Shining (Mp3 Download)

Months before he passed away, J Dilla asked fellow Detroiter and longtime associate Karriem Riggins to help him complete The Shining. With the album apparently 75 percent complete, Riggins -- an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and producer in his own right -- was handed the masters and went about the completion of the album as if he were inside the mind of Dilla. Though it's disjointed, a little bumpy, and -- in places -- perceptibly unfinished-sounding, The Shining is a very worthy addition to Dilla's discography. A slightly more in-depth synthesis of studio creations and live instrumentation when compared to the productions that have trickled out during 2005 and 2006, the album is drenched in soul -- save for a couple space-age basslines and other fleeting forms of alien synthetics -- and features an impressive raft of Dilla's favorite MCs and singers, big names and relative unknowns alike. And though it's less than 40 minutes in length, Dilla was always about brevity, which means the meandering is kept to a minimum. On "Baby," Dilla swaps lines with Guilty Simpson and Madlib in what amounts to an amusing locker-room boast fest. (Simpson, apparently a fan of The Surreal Life, claims he'll "Beat your dog like Flavor Flav.") The shamelessly gooey "So Far to Go," featuring Common and D'Angelo, expands Donuts' "Bye" to six minutes, allowing wide shafts of light to pour through the spaces between the subtle backbeat. "Dime Piece" is some prime 21st century quiet storm, a Dwele feature that coasts through twilight. Fittingly, the closing "Won't Do" is all-Dilla, from the beat to the nasty MCing to an impressive vocal hook that's nearly as dapper as anything delivered by Dwele. (Dilla's not given nearly enough credit for being a top-flight R&B producer from the very beginning; compare the Pharcyde's "Runnin'" to Mya's "Fallen," or check the instrumental versions of just about any one of his tracks.) It's impossible not to wonder exactly what this album could've been, or where Dilla would've gone with his skills after its release. But it's just as easy to marvel at the amount of quality music he generated while he was on this planet. review by Andy Kellman at allmusic.com

Track List

01. Geek Down
02. E=MC2
03. Love Jones
04. Love
05. Baby
06. So Far to Go
07. Jungle Love
08. Over the Breaks
09. Body Movin'
10. Dime Piece
11. Love Movin'
12. Won't Do

found at http://www.jerm5.com/

[2008] Flobots - Fight With Tools (Mp3 Download)

When listening to the Flobots debut album, Fight with Tools, there's a feeling that all the destruction and injustice this politically motivated alt rap crew speak of has been seen through CNN and YouTube. There's a certain grit missing, a certain soul that comes from living the nightmare and surviving, and whether they've been through it or not, the Flobots just don't display it. Fight with Tools also feels like a college class project partly because it's so clean but also because it's incredibly busy with ambition and new ideas overflowing as everything and the kitchen sink get thrown into the record. This youthful ambition and willingness to explore is also what makes the record special. The Denver crew enter by spitting out a Gil Scott-Heron by way of Def Poetry Jam bit of prose on the opening "There's a War Going on for Your Mind," offering surreal lines like "It's raining pornography/Lovers take shelter" over melancholy chamber music. That's the Flobots' real hook; they rap with a live band, and not the guitar, bass, drums beat combo you've seen before. It's all of the above and some strings, horns, and other things left over from the orchestra and marching band. This isn't as Kids from Fame as it sounds, since the Flobots do have a believablly stern pose, and if they aren't experienced, they are brilliantly educated and aware. Good points are made with skill and fine wordplay, the guitars and drums crunch along driving home the message with head-bobbing grooves, and then album opens up with the marvelous "Handlebars," a carefully crafted, slowly building tale of the ego run wild via some beautiful muted trumpet. It's a very Fort Minor moment, and sweet relief from all the pain and in-your-face politics, suggesting the Flobots could benefit from a little more restraint. Here, they've got so much to stay it's hardly worth considering. If the talented young bucks want to shout down the world as if they own the place, why curb their inspiring appetite for justice by asking for discipline and composure? review by David Jeffries at allmusic.com

Track List

01. There's a War Going on for Your Mind
02. Mayday!!!
03. Same Thing
04. Stand Up
05. Fight With Tools
06. Handlebars
07. Never Had it
08. Combat
09. The Rhythm Method (Move!)
10. Anne Braden
11. We Are Winning
12. Rise

found at http://angryinternets.com