Canibus - 2000 B.C. (Before Can-I-Bus)

Universal Music: 2000

For a very brief window, I was listening to every new hip-hop album that entered my little hinterlandian music shop. I didn't actually buy every new item, oh no; this one though, 2000 B.C. (Before Can-I-Bus). I didn't know who Canibus was, but he was dropping bars with an intensity that properly drew me into the artform: battle-rap. Dudes like Del and Deck, firing off fiery metaphors and similes with such complexity and ferocity, few could stand toe-to-toe in the arena. And now here's a guy who's entire deal is doing such a thing, a full album's worth of such bars (and some other nonsense).

Jamaican born, commanding the microphone must have been in Mr. Germaine Williams' blood from the start, making a name for himself throughout the underground freestyle circuit in New York City. It got him noticed by some Very Important Persons in the hip-hop community, including LL Cool J and Wyclef Jean, the latter even producing Canibus' debut album. That... didn't turn out as his fans expected, Wyclef trying to mould Canibus into a commercial star. The album sold well enough, mind you, but heads wanted the real battling 'Bus. Thus for his follow-up 2000 B.C., Canibus throws down as hard as everyone hoped he would.

The album opens with a heavy boom-bap beat while various former bars are stitched together, eventually erupting with a triumphant fanfare as Canibus declares it's The C-Quel. And if that doesn't get you fired up, then the titular cut damn sure well, all apocalyptic choirs as dude doesn't hold back on proclaiming his lyrical greatness (while throwing a couple barbs at Wyclef in the process). The rest of the album pretty much plays out like that, Canibus coming in with a solid Eastcoast beat, going off on how great he is in a myriad of creative ways. Sometimes he brings in other famed lyricists like Rakim, Killah Priest, Rass Kass, and Kurupt, other times he goes off for an unprecedented one-hundred bars (100 Bars). Gander at one of my favourite verses from Doomsday News, for obvious reasons: “If I had half as many bars in gold as I had in lyrics when I flowed; I'd be the richest man on the globe; Niggas wanna know is Canibus gold? That's a stupid-ass question motherfucker, is Canada cold? 'Bout a thousand degrees lower than liquid nitro is.”

I can't say it's all gold, though. Life Liquid has Canibus spitting over-the-top ultra-violence and homophobia to show how 'street hard' he is (Watch Who U Beef Wit's a far better grimdark street cut – message!). A few beef jabs are fine, but Canibus does overplay it with Die Slow and Phuk U. Odd having Pharoahe Monch featuring solo on a pure freestyle in Horsemen. And no matter how creative he does get, hearing Canibus constantly telling you how awesome he is does wear thin by album's end. Beyond those quibbles though, 2000 B.C.'s a dope record for folks who dig rap's true lyrical potential.

808 State - 88:98 (2018 Update)

Universal Records: 1998

(Click here to bang your head against an impenetrable wall of text)

I've severely lagged in my 808 State gathering. Hell, it's almost shameful it took me until just last year to snag me a copy of at least one proper LP from the Manchester group, any LP. ex:el is a decent jumping on point, I suppose, but I'm certain most acid heads declare their first couple of records - Newbuild and Ninety - the only true 808 State albums you're supposed to have, even if you're not an 808 State fan. “But wait!”, say some, “Don't you dare dismiss their post-ex:el material either, Gorgeous and Don Solaris just as worthy of discussion as any of the band's seminal '80s work.”

Yeah, those too, though considering I've seen Gorgeous in the used-shops on occasion, I do have some suspicions of that one's overall quality. Strikes me as the sort of record that I would have stumbled upon back in my exploratory years, picked up to hear why 808 State were held in such high regard, and came away entertained but unimpressed. But hey, until I actually hear Gorgeous in full, I can't make that claim.

For now, all I have to go on is the fact only three of that album's tracks made the cut on this retrospective, whereas ex:el earned a whopping five out of thirteen potential slots. Not to mention none of the songs got a spiffy '98 update like Pacific and Cubik did. No, wait, this is bad logic on my part! Newbuild got jack-shite representation with 88:98, which follows that it's a completely rubbish outing. Well, we must concede it's the least commercially viable for a compilation such as this, but that's probably why so many True Heads adore that acid excursion compared to what came after. Only way you'd hear Flow Coma on the radio is via pirate options.

I cannot deny having 88:98 makes getting the band's post ex:el material a rather low priority. Yeah, you can argue this compilation also makes having ex:el redundant (or the other way around), but c'mon, tracks like Lift and In Yer Face are worth having as many times as possible! If this is meant to be a gathering of their best material though, then I've already heard all the highlights from Gorgeous and Don Solaris, everything else on those albums 'just for the fans' options. Then again, if I went by that logic, then I'd have assumed I wouldn't need anymore tunes off of ex:el, as there's no possible way the five on 88:98 are the peak. Then I heard ex:el, and realized they could have thrown even more on here than what's offered.

There, that should be enough circular rambling to sate anyone. As should be painfully apparent by now, I really have nothing else to add or update with 88:98. It's still a handy intro to 808 State, but far from a complete story. Besides, there's plenty of streaming options for that now anyway. Wow, the 'retrospective CD' market truly is dead, inn'it?

Various - Dazed And Confused

Universal Music Group: 1993

Wayne’s World probably got it started, that whole “‘70s music is now cool in the ‘90s” thing, but this soundtrack solidified it. Punk? Grunge? Metal? Rap? Pft, who cares about that when you got all the hits you might have recalled in your infancy, your parents playing it at some point in your youth, but never gave much thought while growing up. Of course, anyone tuning into a classic rock station would have heard all these songs in a given evening, but the kids ain’t doin’ that, nosiree. They’ll only listen and appreciate the rock hits of the ‘70s if bundled in a package that appeals to them and their sensibilities. One that relates to the difficulties of high school, being young and directionless, believing these times as they are will last forever. Where getting drunk, stoned and laid on the weekend is the goal of any fun, memorable night out. So sayeth the Dazed And Confused crew.

Contrary to belief, I don’t want to be contrarian. I enjoy following the herd if it’s a herd worth following. This movie though, I just don’t get the big appeal. I understand Richard Linklater’s message just fine, such as it is, and latter-aged Boomers undoubtedly get a rush of nostalgia endorphins when watching this. Plus movie geeks adore the movie’s cast for the plethora of “before they were famous stars” littered throughout. At the same time though, I watch Dazed And Confused, and I feel like I’m watching a typical Friday night back in my high-school days. Granted, my hinterland residence didn’t afford much activity for youth beyond attempts at getting stoned, drunk, and laid. Drinking down by the oceanfront before the cops scattered you to the woods was fun for a time, but not after discovering these truly wild and bizarre parties called ‘raves’ happening in Europe. If movies are about escapism, why should I be invested in one that cuts too close to my reality? What do I know though, I think Groove is kinda’ cute.

So the music. Dazed And Confused features a bunch of big hits of the mid-‘70s, a fun but totally unadventurous collection of rock tunes. That’s not really a dig though, as this is almost certainly what the characters of the movie would play on their vinyl spinners and 8-track rewinders. Heh, makes me wonder what I might have been listening to if I lived as a teenager back then. Would I have discovered Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk? Might prog rock been my one true calling? Would my Neil Young fondness have gotten a quicker start?

Linklater says he chose 1976 as his movie’s setting specifically for the last days of when rock music truly rocked. Before the disco behemoth took over the airwaves. Before everything got bad. Yeah, whatever, that’s what people always say about the music they first got laid to. Given how popular this soundtrack was for my generation though, the legacy of Kiss, Rick Derringer and Nazareth carries on.

Stylophonic - Beatbox Show

Universal Music: 2006

Maybe I should have trusted the apathy. How could I have known, though? Despite receiving all the critical plaudits for Man Music Technology, folks generally passed by Stylophonic's first album. A few years later, ol' Stefano comes out with his sophomore offering, Beatbox Show, which seemingly everyone, including critics, passed by. Hell, I never knew of it until checking back at Lord Discogs when it came time to write the MMT review, and Stylophonic's sound won me over enough to at least keep tabs on the project. Lack of promotional power likely hurt Beatbox Show's reach, only getting a release through Universal Music in Mr. Fontana's native Italy. I wonder why Prolifica dropped him, or did he only have a one-album deal with them?

Not that it should matter who he signed to, as a great LP typically gets global recognition regardless. While it wouldn’t surprise me folks currently reading this are only now discovering Beatbox Show exists, I sadly suspect this is more than when the album first came out. If it did receive any attention, it mustn’t have been good, practically disappearing from public discourse shortly after along with most of Stefano’s career, save a few synth-pop production credits.

So the warning signs were all there that Beatbox Show would turn out a ‘shitshow’ (oh-hoho!). Maybe I should have dug around the YouTubes first, taking in a couple tracks as a sampler, hear if it was worth digging about for a proper copy. Nah, Sykonee don’t play that way, especially with ample spending cash for music these days. I went to the Amazons instead, paying whatever (< $30) prices I could find, and shipping it on over for a blind-purchase listen. It’s how I got Man Music Technology, and that turned out swimmingly! Mr. Fontana’s too talented a producer for this to turn out horrible, right?

No, wait, this was released in 2006, when everyone with a hint of electro in their sound was obligated to jump onto the post-electroclash sleaze bandwagon. It’s not a good fit for Stylophonic’s upbeat, campy charm. Every time Stefano works in those cliché scratchy, farty synths (Dancefloor, Daisyphonic, Turntable Times), it sounds hopelessly forced; a blatant attempt at co-opting Benassi’s success. Having equally forced ‘trashy’ sing-rap lyrics from ‘Dirty Kylie’ throughout doesn’t help either, her attempts at aping Peaches woefully forgettable. She’s fine when simply singing (Say What?, Losing My Mind), but as this is her only Discogs credit, I suspect she’s a studio hire forced into an unfitting role.

When Stylophonic gets back to the summery club-house vibes (Play That Music, Loving You At The Mad Club) or pays tribute to proper electro of the ‘80s (Say What?, Fresh Air), Beatbox Show retains the hooky appeal of Man Music Technology. Too often though, Stefano loses himself in drab ‘electro-trash rock’ nonsense that instantly dates this album to the mid-‘00s, vanishing within a sea of cheap Satisfaction clones. Not the end for Stylophonic I’d hoped, my friends. Not like this.

The Tragically Hip - Live Between Us

Universal: 1998

This is handy - a live album of The Tragically Hip. A decade’s worth of songs, all cribbed from what many declare were their best years. Every member in full swagger, their skills as musicians fine-tuned and honed to the best of their capabilities. Yet, why was this recorded at a show in Detroit – was the potential turnout in their native country not good enough? Then again, knowing Canadians, many of my country men and women braved the treacherous crossing of Detroit River from Windsor, invading the Motor City with Hip tix’ before any American knew what hit ‘em. Don’t laugh, we do it all the time for hockey games as far south as Phoenix and Miami.

I mention Live Between Us being handy because of my unfortunate bias against The Tragically Hip, one that's prevented me from getting into the band. Something about their studio work's always struck me as stiff for an alternative blues-rock band, like they don’t often play as a group during recording sessions. Obviously this is the case for many albums, but good producers hide those handicaps. Again, I blame my upbringing surrounded by rock musicians jamming while practicing in my father's basement for this bias, but it’s there, my 'rock-trained' ears demanding authenticity of band synergy in favor of clean overdubs.

Most folks I've talked to about The Hip claim the band's at their best live anyway, so digging into an album such as this is about as perfect a chance I'll have “getting it”, short of going to an actual concert. The inlay claims this CD is as authentic a recording as they could get, and I believe it. Most live albums tend to place the listener among the crowd, usually close the stage. Live Between Us sounds like you're on the stage (between the band members!), cheering fans oddly distant as though the darkness enveloping the Cobo Arena limits their volume as well. If you've ever desired the experience of joining a rock band on stage, this is as good a representation I've come across.

And The Hip themselves? About as good as I expected. Lead guitarist Rob Baker and rhythm guitarist Paul Langlois have great interplay between them, while bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay feed them more than enough energy during their extended jams (ooh, Fully Completely and WhereWithal doth kicketh my asseth!). Gord Downie, meanwhile, sounds huskier compared to earlier works, and I wonder if some vocal strain had set in when they did this concert. Many of the main hits up to that point are here - Grace, Too, Courage, Ahead By A Century, Gift Ship, New Orleans Is Sinking - though honestly, they were mostly only hits in Canada.

The question begs, then, whether you folks abroad should check this album out. Sure, if you fancy yourself some alternative blues rock. Live Between Us is easily the best Tragically Hip CD I’ve heard, though given my limited knowledge of their complete works, that’s not saying much.

Aqua - Aquarium

Universal Music: 1997

Yeureuo-daoncshh ofth the yeaurly ‘90shth ha’ all mwut die’ mwy 1997, mwut the worold wash shtill a cople yearsh away from the nu-italo exploshion that marked europop’sh next shtage of evolushun. Mwridg’ng the gap wash a curioush four-‘iece ‘ailing from the landsh of Danesh. Inishally a ‘appy ‘ardcore group going mwy Joyshpeed, they took thoshe mwumwmwle-gum anticsh to the mainshtream, produshing – eshcushe me a momen’…

Sorry, I had to remove that foot from my mouth, though why I would write like that befuddles me (I don’t talk aloud when I type). See, I recently made some disparaging remarks about Aqua on the TranceAddict forums, likening the group’s goofy presentation and novelty music to the cornball antics of current dance pop. Many contemporary videos remind me of that silly era, Yvis’ The Fox being a prime example, though it was tracks like Laidback Luke’s Pogo and Chicky’s Bunny that set me off. I felt Aqua marked the end of euro-dance’s glory years, a final nail in ruining whatever slight credibility the genre still had in the eyes of the general population when Barbie Girl was the flag bearer. And now I’m forced to contradict myself by reviewing Aqua’s debut.

I’ll get this out of the way: I like Lollipop (Candyman). Maybe it’s that piano hook that reminds me German trance (no, really!), maybe it’s the wonderfully campy sci-fi video, maybe it’s the totally obvious double-entre within a pop song, but I like it. A lot. Even back in the day, when I was anti-Aqua on principle. And I continued liking it, a lot. Now leave me alone about it.

Then there’s Barbie Girl, the inescapable hit you loved to hate, but couldn’t deny the surprising, thought-provoking subtext lurking within an apparent bubble-gum song, a dark statement on the vapid Valley Girl lifestyle. Okay, I’m giving Aqua way too much credit there, but they claim the tune’s a social commentary, so kudos for them in thinking a bit deeper where dance-pop’s concerned (to say nothing about pissing off Mattel to no end).

The rest of Aquarium features more happy-go-lucky euro-dance and the requisite forgettable ballads that pad out pop albums. Roses Are Red, the first single released under the Aqua banner, is pretty good for mid-'90s euro, though it's clear in follow-up singles like Doctor Jones and My Oh My the group were quite content at crafting cartoon music. Can't fault them for achieving their goals, and they look like they had fun making equally cartoony videos (which Katy Perry totally style-bit!), but listening to this is still no more satisfying than munching on cotton candy. Then again, everyone must love the fluffy, colourful stuff, Aquarium going down as Denmark's all-time best-selling album.

Guess I was too hard on Aqua back in the day. I still wouldn’t recommend them unless you’re perfectly fine with music at its most infantile, but they sure don’t deserve the ire of ‘music are serious’ types. Ann Lee and that godawful 2 Times, however…

Raekwon - The Lex Diamond Story

Universal Records: 2003

Only Built For Cuban Linx is a classic, of that there's no debate; Part 2, released in 2009, was heralded as the follow-up everyone hoped of Raekwon. Unfortunately, no one knew whether we'd get such a sequel, so fans of Mr. Todd's music made do with what was sporadically offered instead. When it came out, Raekwon's third was received warmly enough, if not as a return to form then at least a decent effort. That perception's somewhat changed though in recent years. Unlike other 2000s LPs from the Wu-Tang, The Lex Diamond Story seems to be receding further from the collective hip-hop memory.

As an assortment of 2003 eastcoast criminology rap, Lex Diamond suffices. There aren't many surprises on the production front, though the tone does frequently jump from track to track – guess that's the price one pays for no longer having RZA providing all the beats. Instead, names like Brutal Bill, Andy C (no, not that Andy C), Crummie Beats, Zephla, Hangman 3, Ez Elpee, and Mizza handle the decks. Um, I don't know any of these names – I think I heard of Crummie Beats somewhere, but Lord Discogs lists Lex Diamond as his (their?) only entry, so I may just be blowing hipster smoke. Whatever, everyone involved (and nearly every track has a different producer credit) pretty much work with cinematic or jazz-n-soul loops and samples that'd been an eastcoast staple for over a decade by that point. Again, fine for the tone Rae' wants for this album (street raps by his street gangsta persona), but nothing particularly innovative for that year.

In fact, the few tracks that do break mode stand out from the rest for that very reason. That doesn't mean they're good tunes though. Ice Cream, Pt. 2 seems like a bad idea on paper – don't mess with a classic, right? - but DJ Khalid (who's done work for Dr. Dre's Aftermath print) provides a charming, silly cut for Rae', Method Man, and Cappadonna to once again use tasty frozen treats as pick up lines. Mike “Punch” Harper, on the other hand, creates a synth-heavy club jam on Wyld In Da Club, also featuring Raekwon's then-new pet project Ice Water Inc. (what happened to American Cream Team?). It sounds like a total trend-jump and in both cases, I wonder how either of them relates to a story about Lex Diamond's crime days.

And really, that's where this album suffers and quite possibly will continue to be relegated to forgotten solo-Wu joints. Say what you want about Immobilarity, but like both Cuban Linx, it maintains its theme for most of its running time – it feels like you're listening to proper long player. The Lex Diamond Story doesn't, often jumping from a Lex-related story to something totally unrelated. The final track - Once Upon A Time with somber pianos and singing from Tekitha (such a soulful voice) – is an admirable effort to tie everything together, but it's not enough.