If I had to describe Flying Lotus’ work in one word, indescribable would be my choice. Sounds like a joke but it’s not, FlyLo (as his fans usually call him) has reached what most modern artists will never be able to: A unique sound and his 2008 album Los Angeles is proof of this signature in his songs, bringing influences from hip-hop and dubstep to create a flawless and addicting album.

The great nephew of Alice Coltrane, Flying Lotus was another in the legendary family destined to dedicate his life to music, not that he decided to follow his aunts footsteps. FlyLo chose a different way to his music, experimenting with the most diverse electronic sounds, remembering the creativity and the search for complexity that marked the late career of a famous saxophonist with the surname Coltrane.

“Los Angeles” picks up all these experiments and puts them together with some bass flavored hip-hop, a dark style and a sound, perfect to listen to using headphones. Starting with the space atmosphere of “Brainfeeder”, the album fits perfectly to the night climate, with songs like “Golden Diva” and “SexSlave Ship” showing a science-fiction vibe and a Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 soundtrack inspiration while songs like “Camel” and “Melt” bring African/middle-eastern inspired percussions showing one of the multiple faces of FlyLo’s production skills. Added to this variety of influences we have party-oriented songs like “GNG BNG” and “Parisian Goldfish” that gives the album a good break. But all of these different rhythms and music styles together don’t make Los Angeles sound loose. On the contrary, the album flows so perfectly that you will not realize that it’s ended.

This review wouldn’t be complete without citing what is to me one of the most beautiful songs created last decade. Giving this song the name of a soul diva is not too pretentious, it’s a well-deserved choice! The vocals of Dolly (whose real name is Ahu Keleslogu) are superb, adding a soulful melody that only makes Flying Lotus’ heavy-bass, but chill beat richer. More than a song, “RobertaFlack” is a masterpiece and “Los Angeles” is the definition of an indescribable album.

by Arthur

Sometimes people approach me and ask for a little favor: Recommend a Hip-Hop album. So I usually point out classic stuff like “Low End Theory” from A Tribe Called Quest or a more modern sound like “The College Dropout” by Kanye West. But after they listen to some of the songs on these albums I mentioned, you can see their face going from “Nice, let’s listen” to “Aw, this is not what I’m looking for”. When this happens my friends… spin “Tronic” in your sound system. “This is the aggressive stuff i want!” is what some will say… I wouldn’t define it that way, but I know what they mean.

Tronic is mind-blowing not only for the mainstream listener, but for the eager hip-hop fan too. Starting with the synth-heavy ‘Long Story Short’, the album is full of rich basslines and drums that shine all over the tracks. With such dedication to the sound of the heavy drums it’s not a surprise that one track is called ‘Give The Drummer Sum’, and features the instrument as the main highlight. But Tronic is not resumed to this definition. Actually this is a great piece of work that mixes futuristic aspirations, 80′s influence and keyboard use with boom bap rap and the characteristic Detroit sound. Tracks like ‘Hold It Down’ and ‘RePPiN For U’ clearly shows the heavy Prince influence in Black Milk’s growth the second one with AB singing a melodic chorus that could fit perfectly into any sexy groove of The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. But not everything here is a change for Black Milk, ‘Try’ takes the producer to the usual soul based sampling, even if he kinda hesitates and admits that he wouldn’t use soul samples in this album. You can’t run from a fresh sample I guess.

Finally, on the rap side of the songs, we have a more comfortable Black Milk rhyming with good punchlines. Maybe the content it’s not the best, but Detroit native improved on his microphone skills. And if all of this is not good enough for you, ‘The Matrix’ brings two heavy weight producers and one legend DJ to help Black Milk.

With many “hip-hop album of the year” nominations and comparisons with Kanye’s 2007 album, Tronic is the perfect album to bump on your car sound system or just to enjoy on a sunny day. Actually calling this album the underground “Graduation” (by Kanye West), is not too far from the truth. But I’m pretty sure that Kanye never had such strong and ready-for-loud-speakers beats.

by Arthur

Sampling has become such a taboo these days, with all the legal proceedings, restrictions and the overuse of obvious samples; that people forgot it is most of all, a form of art that can bring benefits not only to the sampling artist, but for the original act too. For example, if it wasn’t for DJ Shadow, this review would of never happened. The song “Building Steam With a Grain of Salt” from his critically acclaimed, sample-based album “Endtroducing…” made me curious about who was the guy behind that beautiful piano sample. Jeremy Storch is the guy.

Mostly known for his role as songwriter and vocalist for the rock group The Vagrants (that was an important part in the formation of one of the most rock bands from the beginning of the 70′s: “Mountain”). Jeremy Storch started his solo career in 1970 with his debut album “From A Naked Window”, and what a solo debut! “From A Naked Window” is a different step from the Vagrants work. The album is characterized by Storch’s songwriting and particularly nasal voice, with half of the songs composed by only his singing and piano play, while the other half have some good rock arrangements. One of the highlights here are the melodies, which are pretty elaborate and delightful, giving the album a dark, but beautiful and enjoyable feeling. “I Feel A New Shadow” and “Lady In The Sand” are examples of this atmosphere, with the first one bringing a stunning vocal harmony to the well-known piano riff. The ending track “Delia” is another result of Storch’s piano skills mixed with an elaborate harmony, this time produced by an orchestration that will give you chills.

With such quality material it’s a shame that this album needed 26 years to finally be recognized by some. Well, late is better than never i guess and all we can do is thank DJ Shadow and all the crate diggers/real samplers in the world for helping us find amazing musical gems like this one.

by Arthur

Wes Montgomery is one of those singular artists that will never appear somewhat close to what he became. A guitarist that, even coming from a musical family (his brothers were jazz musicians, recording with Wes in the beginning of his career), only started to play the guitar at the age of 19 which is considered a late age to start playing an instrument; especially, when you play jazz. Montgomery dedicated himself with the maximum effort of a true music lover, learning to play the guitar in only 6 months, generating rumors that he played so much guitar that his fingers started to bleed in the process. You ask: “Why would his fingers bleed if a guitarist plays with a pick?”, the answer is: “What pick?”. Wes didn’t used any guitar picks to play, he used his thumb and a strange tone to make his guitar sound unique and soft.

With this single technique Montgomery influenced a lot of guitarists, with his masterpieces “Smokin’ at the Half Note” and “The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery”. “Bumpin’” is one different experience compared to these albums. It’s a mix of the usual Wes Montgomery style with the use of pompous orchestration, which are some jazz purists complaints about the album. In most of the songs it works, songs like “Here’s That Rainy Day” and “My One And Only Love” acquire a new feeling with the orchestration combining the simple and soft melodic sound of Montgomery and the blue sensation of the violins.

But the main reason why I love this album is that one song that makes you listen to it all over again. The song is called “Mi Cosa” and it’s one of the most beautiful piece of art that i ever heard. One memorable composition of Wes Montgomery that uses melodic lines and chords combined to make one heavenly sound that gives me chills. A memorable song from a memorable album.

by Arthur

Arthur Verocai lived in the golden age of the Brazilian music, composing and arranging for some of the most famous Brazilian artists of the 60′s and 70′s like Jorge Ben, Marcos Valle and Gal Costa. It’s important to inform people of this because his self-titled album is a result of all these years working with Brazilian greats.

Arthur utilizes a perfect mix of styles to compose this album. Picking up his knowledge about Brazilian music, Verocai uses samba, tropicalia and bossa nova elements to build up grandiose songs filled with beautiful orchestration and influences of American soul and funk. With such ear-blowing sound, it’s not a surprise that the album was sampled so much in hip-hop music, from the soulful beats of 9th Wonder, which uses the amazing horns of “Na Boca Do Sol” to construct an energetic beat for Ludacris, to the strange sound of DOOM in his “Passion Flower” beat.

Actually, this is one of those albums where it’s hard to point out what could have been done different that would make it sound better. The present percussion, the pompous horns and orchestration, the angelical vocal harmony. Everything here fits perfectly, which only makes us conclude that Arthur’s work here is essential and very well executed. You can check this, factor in tracks like “Na Boca do Sol” and “Caboclo”, which features one of the most beautiful harmonies in the history of Brazilian music.

For a long time, this album was rare and hard to find, but with a re-issue edition in CD released by the label Luv N’ Haight in 2003 I really recommend you to get your copy and enjoy it. Because after all, you can’t go wrong with a guy that has such an awesome name.

by Arthur

The music industry from time to time commits injustices with some artists. Bola Sete is one of these injustices, an outstanding and unique guitar player, that I’m not afraid to say, is the best Brazilian guitarist of all-time and is unknown in his own country. The guy that Santana dedicated his Grammy to and cited as his greatest inspiration, was invited by Dizzie Gillispie to play in his group in The Ninth Annual Monterey Jazz Festival and even teamed up with Vince Guaraldi to record two albums.

After those experiences, Bola Sete (Born Djalma de Andrade) started to look for a more mystic and mysterious sound. It’s this sound that we find in the album “Shambhala Moon”. A mix of the jazz influences from greats like Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhardt that Bola incorporated into his music, with Latin rhythms, “Shambhala” is Bola’s most mature and unique album. I’ve never heard anything that sounded similar to these songs. It’s an amazing use of all musical elements like alterations, exotic chord progressions and melodic lines. Actually, if you’re a guitar student this album is a must-listen, almost a full-musical lesson on how to construct melodies, harmonies and improvise. Bola transfers his emotions to the listener by contrasting climax and peaceful parts in his songs (a clear influence of Montgomery’s music), bringing you an experience that you will never forget.

This is an album that will take you to another place, maybe to the famous Shambhala, that the Buddhists believe exists. This mystic, exotic, beautiful and peaceful place that really translates what Bola’s music is. A pure land for few people. For those who take a listen to Djalma’s music and recognize his talent. The talent of a true genius, the talent of a true musician, the talent of a music lover just like us.

by Arthur

Mos Def is one of those guys that no matter who you are, you will end up loving. His charisma is a factor for sure, but when you start to notice his artistic work deeply is when you realize what a unique person he is in a music industry where the more and more we see/listen to, copies successful artists from the past and stereotypes based on genres.

How does Mos Def achieve this unique way of doing things? He tells you on the first track of his classic album “Black On Both Sides”. He puts the “mind over matter and soul before flesh”, not being afraid to be himself and being proud of what he is. This is only the beginning of what can be considered a freedom cry, an album filled with songs full of ideas (political and social), creativity and fun, similar to those sang by the oppressed black slaves of America. Mos rhymes about his roots addressing diverse subjects about the black race such as how black people heavily-influenced the music we know today, especially rock and roll, modern racism and the pride of being black, making the album title a perfect fit.

But this not a black-only directed album. Actually, the main goal of Mos Def here is to make the listener see that hip-hop is intelligent, creative and made for the people. Mos uses not only rhymes to express it, but sings and even plays some live instruments, with the help of the great Weldon Irvine.

And for the hip-hop listener, the album features Busta in top form, Q-tip helping in two tracks and the expected Kweli collaboration in “Know That”.

Quoting Common Sense “If revolution had a theme music, “Black On Both Sides” would be it”, an album filled with revolutionary music, the way that hip-hop should be done. A classic album that every hip-hop listener has to have in their collection.

by Arthur

From time to time people come up to me and ask for an album that will make them start to love soul music, maybe it’s because this whole soul resurrection movement has raised the general public’s interest in 60′s/70′s soul music. The first album that comes to my mind is this one. An album that represents to me, the true form of soul music and can change the whole way you see the world.

“What’s Going On” is an entirely personal album, with Marvin going down a road that he had never walked before. Coming from commercial, radio-friendly songs (and from a depression because of the death of his “vocal-mate” Tammi Terrel that even made him consider playing for the Detroit Lions) Gaye realised that he needed to do something true, something that could reach people’s souls, not the usual romantic and utopic vision of the world, but a record with topics relatable to real life. He accomplished this by seeing things in a different and positive way. The reality is in there; the desperate situation of economy in “Inner City Blues”, drug problems in “Flying High (In The Friendly Sky)” or even the environmental problems in “Mercy Mercy Me”. But Marvin sings every song with positivity, showing that our problems only depend on us, that it depends on our hearts and souls.

The musical composition of the album is fantastic and incorporates sounds that you can’t find in another record from the era. Using jazzy harmonies, beautiful orchestration, latin percussions and heavy vocal effects (with Marvin singing the backing vocals too, an effect that would later become a trend in soul songs) giving the album not only a grandiose feeling, but a unique sound too. Another curious fact about the album is that all the songs lead to the next one helping the concept of it being a more personal and soul touching album.

Without a doubt, this is the masterpiece, the best of Marvin Gaye’s genius and musical inspiration. A perfect album to be introduced to soul music and this style, it represents a piece of music history and how it’s had a huge influence on today’s artists from the genre.

by Arthur