buck 65 - square.
i had heard a lot about this buck 65 stuff. but, never had access to hearing any sounds. from the various reviews/descriptions i knew that i had to resolve the situation. and so i eventually came to the fascinating album called 'square'. packaged like no other hip-hop album, pencil drawing of some strange creatures (??), no track details with each section advised to be 'square 1', 'square2' etc, minimal detail. all looking good so far.
and so onto the music - twisted leftfield downtempo hip-hop with a very laidback feel.
old scratchy samples set against old scratchy folk tales.
firmly rooted in old school hip-hop values with a an added extra of buck story telling skills, recalling the mad characters that mc 900 ft jesus used to litter his late night hip-hop tracks with, the listener is transported to far away corners of usa. this is anything but an urban take on hip-hop, instead it comes over as a beats and rhymes version of classic movie paris,texas. this is one lp that i genuinely wanted to hear the words to, the complete lack of declarations of gangsta supremcy, or domination of the world, makes for a refreshing listen.
the fact that wea released such an intriguing offcentre hiphop album is indicative that there is an audience out there ready to hear non-thug/mtv sanctioned hiphop and that the listeners are open to the whole groove and feel of scratches/loops. wonderful stuff.
talkin' honky blues
new lp. following on from square at a rapid pace. main difference is that buck has obviously had more time and budget allocated for the creation of a conceptual modern blues hiphop album. whereas his previous albums were all self recorded/produced and rattled off in 2 weeks max this has been crafted in a proper studio over a proper length of time. there are session musicians and a very different take on the hobo-hiphop tales. the story telling is still second to none, the feel is still wanderers downtrodden drunken melancholy vibe.
sometimes recalling the well worn cliche comparison of "tom waits vs dj shadow".
this new spin and budget has reduced the overall surrealness as per previous release 'square', and introduces a proper sequence of tracks ith names and a more listenable album. there are proper radio friendly beats and loops ('leftfielder', 'wicked and weird'), straight up late night moody blues tracks, and even a reggae beat driven instance. unfortunately, there is the odd mistake as well. for example, the chipmunk vocal sample on 'protest' becomes overly familiar too quickly and ends up being a track to skip, but, where the album excels is the flow, the whole lp has a uniform feel. mainly due to an epic 20 minute track 'riverbed', which is split into 7 parts and cuts between sections of the album providing a story that arcs across the whole lp.
the overall mood of the whole thing is that of railway riders of the dark night meeting at some late night bar and swapping tales of their travels.
simply one of the most rewarding hiphop listens.
truly modern folk music, with dj culture absorbed and recycled via a supreme storyteller for the new era.