JB's Listenings Of The Week, 5/28/ - 6/4/10

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - "The Main Ingredient"

I've had the duo's previous disc, "Mecca & The Soul Brother", for a while now, and dug it a fair bit. This, I just grabbed a couple of weeks ago, and man, I feel bad for having waited this long. "The Main Ingredient" is pretty much end-to-end brilliant. C.L. is a great MC, earning his name and then some; a near-flawless flow, rock-solid lyricism - never too showy, doesn't outreach his grasp. But it's Pete Rock's show here; his beats are rhythmically addictive, and melodic enough to be stuck in your head for days. They're at once hooky and immediate and surprisingly intricate, and an argument for sample-based hip hop if ever there was one. Also, for homework check out one of the album's other standouts, the ladies man classic "I Got A Love" (which I can't post because Youtube won't allow it).





The Dismemberment Plan - "Emergency & I"

The Dismemberment Plan were another one of those "have to check them out, someday" acts for me for a long time. The name got thrown around a bunch on best-of 90s lists, this album in particular. The other night I did a Youtube run and spun a few tracks (including "The Face Of The Earth", from a different album, but included here because it was one of the tracks that had me sold at first) and grabbed their discog. The previous album, "The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified", is also very good - a lot jokier, rockier arrangements (relatively) - but this album is where they really hit their stride. Anchored by an excellent rhythm section, frontman Travis Morrison winds his way through track after track of technically complex, lyrical pop gems; sincere through the arch delivery and far catchier than you'd imagine such herky-jerky clusters could be.







Hole - various

I'll keep this one brief, as I'm going to be putting up a whole piece on Hole hopefully later in the week. For the last couple weeks, they've been on constant repeat - particularly a couple of the live boots I have and b-sides/rarities comp "My Body, The Hand Grenade". Excellent stuff.

Nirvana - various live

Nirvana are a vastly overrated band. No matter what millions of teenagers who don't know their historical context for shit may tell you, Nirvana did not invent a style, they were not true underground punk rock, and frankly, pretty much anything they could do someone else could do better. This aside, they were a pretty good band - a lot of great songs, almost one great album - and live they really shone. The noisier shit in particular (the stuff I generally prefer) is twice as heavy live. One of the better recordings I've heard is this one, from Japan in '92...good sound, and the band is in top form. "Negative Creep" is even more of a lurching beast than usual.