"I be from where
phat beats stretch from mad blocks."
In the last
Breezeside Info, I said I would get around to doing a music write up. Well that
time is now. So enjoy this edition of an all music
Breezervations!
Breezervations (All Music Edition)
My Current
Top Five CDs:
1)Morning - Amel
Larrieux: Now this is an album I can put on repeat and never get tired
of hearing it. Ever since her Groove Theory days, Amel has always had of way of
blending R&B, soul, jazz, and folk. On her third solo album, she does it
better than ever. You’ll even hear some flashes of other worldly styles like
West African and Indian. She may not be a household name, but maybe she should
be. The album is only 10 tracks long, but every track is of great quality. She
always refuses to compromise her songs into something that will get mainstream
radio play. Her unique voice and lyrics that range from social and economic
issues to love won and lost keep you listening on a level that is thought
provoking and relaxing at the same time. If you liked her previous albums you
won’t be disappointed, and if you’ve never heard her before you’ll wonder what
took you so long to find her music. If you want to see the video for the first
single off the album, check out her website at http://www.blisslife.com/
2)King - T.I. What
a bold title for this album. Not only is T.I. just saying he’s the king of the
south, he’s now taking this title nationwide to all of the rap game. Does the
album live up to the title? Well mostly yes. In this album he manages to have
songs that will appeal to everyone while not sounding out of his element. He
has production from all over the map. With production from Just Blaze, Mannie
Fresh, Swizz Beatz, the Neptunes, and others, you’ll be sure to find a track
that suits your taste. Don’t worry southerners, T.I. is still representing the
south to his fullest with some bangin’ trunk rattlers. Just go to the track
"Down Low" and you won’t be disappointed. That is probably my favorite track.
And you gotta love the lead single "What You Know About That?" I could do
without the skits with Mike Epps, but every rap album has these filler skits, so
I won’t hold it against the album. This is a solid purchase. I like my beat
down low and my top let back………..
3)Fishscale -
Ghostface: I like Fishscale a lot. I almost put it above T.I. but I found the
skits on here a little bit more annoying, so I couldn’t. If you’re looking for
that old Wu Tang sound then you’ll be very disappointed because there is only
one song that will take you back to that era. but that’s not a bad thing. I
mean it still kind of has that feel, but not quite. The main reason for that is
RZA is not behind the production. Instead Ghostface uses Just Blaze, MF Doom,
Pete Rock, and the late J-Dilla for different tracks. The album switches styles
nicely as Ghost changes subject matters, starting with tales of robbery and drug
dealing, then going on to tales reflecting on childhood and a strict up
bringing. Hell on one track he goes into how he used to get whippings, which is
quite hilarious and brings back memories to all who were brought up that way.
Just a solid album through out.
4)In My Own Words -
Ne-Yo: R&B as we used to know it is dead and gone. No one is bringing back
the woo anytime soon, but at least a few are not jumping on the gangster R&B
that R Kelly made popular, or the Crunk & B style that Ciera has brought to
the masses. Ne-Yo’s album is a breath of fresh air to the R&B genre. He
has a great talent for song writing. He’s been writing for mainstream acts for
years and now he finally got the green light to make his own album on which he
pens all of his songs, thus the title of the album. The lead single, So Sick,
is definitely one of the best songs on the album, but that’s not saying the
other songs are weak. His songs are modern and show a touch of the old R&B
sounds. I would say it’s an Usher album minus the hip-hop and with a lot better
song writing. The only reason I compare him to Usher is because sometimes his
voice reminds you of Usher. Ne-Yo’s voice isn’t the best in business. He still
manages to convey feeling and emotions in his songs, and paired his already
great song writing skills, it makes for a solid album.
5)Big Boi Presents
Purple Ribbon All Stars - Various Artists: This is a compilation album for Big
Boi’s new record label. As with all compilation albums, this mostly serves as a
show off of all the talent on the label. It has a mix of established artists
(Bubba Sparxx, Killer Mike, Sleepy Brown) and new artists (Janelle Monae, Scar,
Konkrete) and some guest appearances by some of the Dungeon Family. This is a
very fun album, but is a little bogged down by numerous skits that don’t really
add anything to the overall flow of the album. The songs are generally hit or
miss, but I think there are more hits than misses. My favorite tracks are
Kryptonite, Body Rock, My Chrome, Claremont Lounge, What is This, and Lettin’
Go. The new artists that really stand out are the R&B singers Janelle and
Scar. They show a lot of promise and I hope their debut albums keep with the
styles they display on this album. Of the veterans, Killer Mike generates the
most enthusiasm and really makes me look forward to his second album. Bubba
Sparxx is highly promoted at the end with a bunch of teaser tracks tacked on as
a preview of his new album. Too bad the previews are better than his actual new
album, but more on that later.
Just Missed
The Top Five:
There’s Something
About Remy - Remy Ma: When I bought this album I just dumped it on my mp3
player and never really gave it a full listen. Whenever I use it, a song from
this album always comes up and I don’t seem to skip many of them. There are
probably at least six club bangers on this album. The problem with Remy Ma is
that she sounds a lot like Lil’ Kim. Even the album structure is like a Lil’
Kim album, which are filled with skits about sex and songs about her crew and
gun play. That may be good for album sales, but it is not good to make you take
notice of her. Also I don’t like hearing a woman talking about rolling with a
crew and carrying a gun. I know male rappers do it all the time, but seriously
who wants a woman that does that stuff?
Dave Chapelle’s
Block Party - various artists: This is the soundtrack to the movie. Well
actually, the songs are the performances directly from the movie with a few
skits thrown in. This is not a bad album, but I’m not a big fan of live
audience albums. Also it is missing some big performances like Kanye West, and
the biggest surprise that is missing is the Fugees first performance together
since they broke up. Oh well, guess I’ll have to buy the DVD when it comes out
and record those songs onto my computer.
Avoid Buying
This Album:
The Charm - Bubba
Sparxx: I am really disappointed in this album. Bubba’s first two albums were
really good but didn’t sell that much. I think one thing that hurt him is that
people were trying to call him the Eminem of the south. He was nothing like
Eminem and had Timbaland producing the majority of his albums. He had smart
lyrics and some nice beats that blended well track to track. On this album he
drops the country boy persona that he is, Timbaland is absent(except for one
song) and is now on Big Boi’s Purple Ribbon label. The potential was there for
this album to be great. I mean how could you go wrong being backed by the
Dungeon Family? Well first you dumb down to the current trend, which is crunk
music and then have an album that is unbalanced. Some tracks are produced by
Mr. Collidge Park (who will always be DJ Smurf to me) and the other half by
Organized Noise, whose styles really don’t mesh well for a cohesive album when
you listen to it track to track. There are about four songs on here that I
like, and that does not include the "Ms. New Booty" lead single that is getting
heavy radio and video play, and is a top 10 single in the country. Well I guess
the change worked because his album has been in the top 50 albums on the charts
for weeks now and is Bubba’s best selling album. But if you’re looking for a
good album, avoid this one. Save yourself some cash and just buy the few good
songs from Itunes or something.
New or
Upcoming Albums I’ll Probably Buy:
Loose - Nelly
Furtado - Release date June 20th - She is newly single and did most of this
album with Timbaland. This should lead to some tasty, fun songs. Can’t wait
for this one!
Pearl Jam - Pearl
Jam - Release date May 2nd - I generally buy one rock album a year. This will
probably be it. It is receiving some great reviews and they are supposedly back
to being the good Pearl Jam. Now I’m no Pearl Jam fan so I don’t know what that
means. I’m interested in this album because after reading the Sports Guy’s
article on the NBA Playoff Preview(http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060421), I
realized just how much I remembered their songs from some moment in my early
college years when I was hanging out on South Campus a lot or at Chuck’s. Like
he said, you always heard one of their songs at a party, or at some moment when
you were hanging out with friends late till the morning
hours.
In My Mind -
Pharrell - Release date unknown - This album has been pushed back so many times
and I have no idea why. The single "Can I have it Like that" was really good
and got heavy rotation. Why would they keep pushing back an album after the
lead single had so much steam behind it? Who knows. Let’s just hope this album
drops soon. Now if we can only talk Pharell into making another N.E.R.D.
album……..
Song I Wish
The Radio Would Stop Playing So Much:
I’m in Love with a
Stripper - T-pain. Seriously make this song go away. In this day of age of
being P.C. and being careful of what you say in public, how is a song about
being in love with an exotic dancer acceptable? Not that I care about being
P.C. but this song is just stupid. And we all know that there is no sex in the
champagne room, so I just don’t get the appeal of this song. I can feel myself
getting dumber every time I hear it. I bet the Duke lacrosse team isn’t singing
this song. Who said that? Oh well, I bet you’re laughing anyway. Ha
ha.
May
Birthdays
Josephine Chen -
Sunday, May 7th
Tom Mccabe - Monday,
May 8th
Chris & Dan
Gridley - Sunday, May 21st
Marc Gagnon -
Tuesday, May 23rd
Adam Brophy -
Friday, May 26th
Kelly Cammerota -
Saturday, May 27th
Events in
Boston
Friday, May
5 - PMC Cinco De Mayo Fundraiser - hosted by Ryan Levasseur and Kate Wrona. Location: The
Point. Time: 7pm to 10pm. Info from their evite:
Come out for a cause!
This August 5th and 6th we will be
participating in Pan-Mass Challenge, a 2-day, 192 mile bike ride across
Massachusetts. The PMC is an amazing event that raises more money than any other
athletic fundraiser in the country. It’s also the most cost efficient with 99
cents of each dollar raised going directly to the Jimmy Fund. The PMC has raised
more than $145 million dollars in life saving cancer research and treatment. We
need your help to meet our overwhelming fundraising goal and invite you to join
us for a little Cinco de Mayo fun!
When: Friday May 5, 2006 7-10
pm
Where: The Point, Faneuil Hall
How Much: Suggested Donation of
$20
Why: To benefit a good cause; 100% of the proceeds goes to the Jimmy
Fund
What: Fundraiser including music, fun, dancing, $3 beers and $5 Stoli
Martinis, raffle and door prizes!!
PLEASE INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS! The more
the merrier! Hope to see you all there! Please RSVP so we know how many people
to expect.
Thanks so much!
- Ryan and Kate
For more information on the
PMC check out www.pmc.org.
****Or to donate online by credit
card, log on to www.pmc.org and click egifts or click here https://www.pmc.org/egifts/default.asp and enter a last name
in the search field.****
Well that’s the show
folks. Tune in next time when lady bug will hit you with a nickel bag. Until
then, later.
Lobrenzo "Breeze"
Wingo
