Music Reviews

Enter the 1962 Jazz masterpiece, Money Jungle. The players: Duke Ellington on the piano, Charles Mingus on the bass, and Max Roach on the drums... If you are a jazz fan, you're probably already sold by mere account of the album's lineup. However, even without the giant names on the CD cover, I would still say that this is some of the best god damn jazz that I'd ever heard.

For the uninitiated, hip-hop doesn’t require rap; just as graffiti doesn’t require a turn table; and break dancing doesn’t involve spray paint. Moreover, when an artist calls themselves a “DJ”, it does not necessarily mean that they play “techno”, “house”, “jungle”, “drum&base”, “trance”, “happy hardcore”; it doesn't even mean that beats will be the main emphasis of their set.

So before you cast aside DJ shadow as being “hip-hop”, therefore disagreeable to your ears, let me say this: I’m a total musical snob. Overall, my favorite genre is classical music, specifically those composers between Beethoven and Prokofiev. However, hip-hop turntablism is my second favorite genre. I have no problem in arguing that if there was one modern musical movement worth watching, it’s turntabalism. The genre’s best introduction, in my opinion, is DJ Shadow’s 1996 debut album, Entroducing

With over 60,000 LPs, DJ Shadow holds the record for the world's largest private record collection. That collection is not a sign of vanity; it’s a physical monument to his commitment to music, and his art. Its difficult to describe "what he does". However, one pithy way of putting it might be that he specializes in going to second hand record stores around the world, and digging up old, virtually unknown recordings. After listening to them, he remixes them into musical collages.

Midnight In A Perfect World [listen in WMA] is probably the best song on the album. DJ shadow has (as far as my ear can tell) combined no less than 5 different tracks – ranging from vocal/instrumental, to funk, to rap, to indy rock – to create this particular master piece. The track’s seamless sound is an illusion; it is the true mark of a turntable grandmaster.

However, don’t get the wrong impression that everything on the album is trancy and beautiful. Number Song [listen in WMA], will appeal to any lover of hard music. The contrast between the two tracks speaks for DJ Shadow’s diversity as a musician.

Like all good albums, however, Entroducing is best listened to as a whole, from start to finish. DJ Shadow put thought into its structure; the sum of the whole is greater than te sum of parts. ****

Herbie Hancock's 1973 recording, Head Hunters ,is arguably the best album in fusion genre. (and don't argue with fusion fans, what's the use? They like weather report...) Think of it as Bitches Brew without the coke, or Miles Davis's pretentious attitude.

In Austin, there is a famous, local, independent record store called Waterloo records; its one of those stores that, in way, both defines and reflects Austin’s native culture. Anyhow, when I bought James Brown’s In the Jungle Groove, the owner and manager of Austin’s most famous record store happened to be the guy who rang it up. He took one look at the album, and looked me dead in the eye “This album,” he said with a grave tone “is my favorite recording of James. And now that I think about, it might be my favorite album in the entire genre.”

Indeed, after the two years that I’ve been listening to James Brown's In the Jungle Groove; I can say, without question, that it is the greatest musical achievement in all of human history. Or, actually, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. However, at the very least, I can promise that after you buy this album, you'll up saying to yourself, "God damn, that album kicks ass!". And while perhaps In the Jungle Groove is not history's greatest musical achievement; I have no hesitation in proclaiming it to be “James Brown's best album.”

Track one, “It's a New Day” [listen in WMA], starts the album right off with the funk, the whole funk, and nothing but the funk. Out of the hundreds of James Brown recordings that I've listened to, I've only heard one track that has more energy than this one – and it happens to be track three on this album.

During the second track “Funky Drummer” [listen in WMA], James Brown lets his legendary band take center stage. Though most people are unaware of it, you’ve heard parts of this song countless time on the radio. In particular, the drum beat that gave this song its name [listen in WMA] is one of the most widely used samples in hip hop.

The highlight of this album is track three, “Give It up or Turnit a Loose”.[listen in wma] As I mentioned earlier, to my knowledge, there is not a single recording of James that tops this one in terms of energy, groove, funk, and soul (and what else really matters?) The listener will even pick up on how aware James is of the quality of the track. About half way through the song, James begins to freak out. The funk becomes so intense that James starts to scream uncontrollably (and I mean uncontrollably for James brown); he makes sounds that I’ve never heard come from a human being. Toward the end of the track, the band drops out leaving only a funky tribal beat and the god father himself chanting: “clap your hands/stomp your feet. In the jungle brother…” Hints, the title of the album.

Five Stars for this one... no question about it. Now, groove to this, and ask yourself why you haven't added this album to your collection yet. *****

Yesterday, a friend of mine noticed that I never talk about music at my blog. This is actually strange, as music is my drug of choice. For example, as a result of my addiction:

• I've accumulated thousands of pages of classical scores (mostly piano).
• Suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome as a result of teaching myself how to play Rachmaninoff's concertos (its been in remission for several years now; but at the cost of having to relearn how to play almost every piece I knew).
• A music collection of about 600 CDs and 80 gigabytes of mp3s.