Month: December 2014

TV on the Radio, Live at the Crystal Ballroom

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Over the course of more than a decade and five albums into their career, there is still no band like TV on the Radio.  They are sui generis, a singular entity that defies easy characterization but continually produces gorgeous and engaging music. As great as their studio output is, it gives but a glimpse of the true power of the band, and that’s its live show.  Last Thursday’s show at the Crystal Ballroom was a thrilling experience that capped off not only a wonderful year of concerts, but proves that more than ever we need to be thankful for the band’s existence.

Inside, they don't take as much care in lining up the names for the concert calendar

Inside, they don’t take as much care in lining up the names for the concert calendar

On record, TV on the Radio exerts an air of precision and carefulness; even when the songs are filled with hisses and layers of ambient haze, there is still the notion that this “noise” is meticulously constructed, with the particular vocal styles of Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone also contributing to this perception.  However, their live show moves away from their more artfully produced side and instead brings out their dormant punk rock tendencies.  This was established in a dramatic fashion at the very beginning of the show, as waves of haze and noise filled the air like an aural fog machine before Tunde ripped through and delivered a thrilling rendition of one of their earliest songs, “Young Liars”.  Though I have my doubts that most of the audience had an previous familiarity with the song, by the end of the first chorus it didn’t matter, and they provided an enthusiastic response.

Tunde was moving around the stage and wringing the emotion out of every note, often with the aid of his unique physical mannerisms that in the hands of a less capable performer would look ridiculous but were clearly genuine expressions on his part.  Dave Sitek spent most of the set furiously strumming his guitar, and though it was nearly impossible to pick out his singular contributions it was clear that he was making an important contribution to the general atmosphere of each song; he stood in direct contrast to Kyp Malone on the other side of the stage, whose stillness amid the chaos portrayed an almost zen-like quality to his guitar-playing and vocal parts.  In their live performance, the brilliance of the composition of the bass and drum parts become much more apparent, and Jaleel Bunton and Japhet Landis helped not only to keep everything grounded but offered thrilling personal touches of their own.  While Landis seemed to struggle slightly with a couple of the turnarounds in “Lazerray”, he more than made up for it with his handling of the tricky rhythms of “Province”.

TV on the Radio performing "Golden Age"

TV on the Radio performing “Golden Age”

The set focused mainly on the new album Seeds, with the band performing most of the album, including a stretch of four songs in a row that indicate the band’s confidence in the material.  Considering we here at RIJR think it’s one of the top albums of the year, we were fine with this decision.  The band sprinkled only a little bit from the rest of their catalog throughout, with Dear Science and Return to Cookie Mountain getting a handful of songs each.  For the most part, the intention was to keep the energy up, and so fast-paced rockers like “Dancing Choose” and “Golden Age” dominated the setlist in favor of the band’s slower songs (though a re-working of “Blues From Down Here” showed the versatility of their more balladesque material).  As expected, “Wolf Like Me” was a thrilling highlight, with the crowd absolutely losing its mind during the band’s ferocious performance.

The band seemed to genuinely enjoy their visit to Portland, and the crowd was glad to benefit from the extra shot of energy that comes with the final stop at the end of a tour.  But there were other things that were understandably on the band’s mind, as Kyp and Tunde both took time between songs to express frustration with the recent current events and promote positive social awareness in the audience.  This included a memorable segment that involved crowd participation about “light” and “dark” and Tunde running through and high-fiving the audience.  All of this led up to the final song, the moment that I had been hoping all night to hear once again, and that was their electric performance of their early hit “Staring at the Sun”.  It is one of the highlights of desperate youth, blood thirsty babes, but it takes on a whole new dimension when performed live that few bands in history can match.  It was a sensational conclusion to not only a brilliant show, but to the year in general.  Thanks to that performance, I’m going to have to reshuffle my list of top concerts of the year, but that’s a great problem to have.

Over the Weekend (Dec. 15 Edition)

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Some fun links as you laugh at all the Best Of lists that were ruined by a surprise album release last night…

Once again, we’ve got links to a veritable bevy of lists this week for your perusal.  Pitchfork released their 100 Best Tracks list, with several RIJR favorites well-represented throughout the countdown (including multiple slots for Spoon, The War On Drugs, and Run The Jewels).  Then there’s The FADER’s 116 Best Tracks list and CMJ’s 65 Best Songs list for your oddly-numbered reviews, as well as Drowned in Sound’s 50 Favourite Albums of 2014 to help fill out the rest of your day.

As for the surprise album mentioned in the intro, D’Angelo stunned the music world last night when the long-awaited followup to Voodoo was released last night, and the early response has been an endless series of raves for Black Messiah.  It’s available on iTunes and Spotify, and a few hours ago all the tracks were uploaded to YouTube on D’Angelo’s Vevo channel.

There will be a Mad Season reunion of sorts, as Chris Cornell and Duff McKagan fill in for the deceased members of the grunge supergroup for a special performance on January 30th in Seattle.  Mike McCready and Barrett Martin will be reprising their original roles and will have the Seattle Symphony providing support on multiple songs.

And finally, just in time for the 35th anniversary of the Greatest Album of All-Time, Joe Strummer received the rare and prestigious honor of having a new species of snail named after him.  After reading up on the snail, spend some time figuring out what the best five songs on London Calling are.  The fun part is you can make an argument for just about any five tracks on the album!

Catching Up On The Week (Dec. 12 Edition)

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Some #longreads as you try to stop laughing every time you hear “Pineapple Express” on the local weather report…

Earlier this month, the Pixies released a three-disc reissue of their classic album Doolittle for its 25th anniversary, and I truly mean “classic” in every sense of the word.  The AV Club has a roundtable devoted to the album, and the band’s label at the time 4AD has created an interactive version of the liner notes online.  Be sure to check those out as you blast that album the rest of the weekend.

For those more interested in current music, Consequence of Sound has named their Band of the Year and Artist of the Year, and they are Rust Is Just Right favorites The War On Drugs and Run The Jewels, respectively.  As such, they each get the extended profile and retrospective treatment.

Because it’s always fun to read his interviews, we’re going to link to a Rolling Stone piece with Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers answering questions from Twitter.  You’ll find stories about their infamous socks costume, potential future drum battles with Will Ferrell, and updates on their new album.

In more serious news, this week saw the release from the Senate Intelligence Committee on the use of torture by the CIA in the last decade.  Among the various methods employed was the use of music, in different forms, and Vox has a breakdown of the psychological connections that humans with music and how the CIA exploited them.

Spoon, Live at the Crystal Ballroom

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After taking a five year break from visiting Portland, Spoon returned last night for their second show in less than six months, but even with the quick turnaround the fans last night were excited to see the one-time locals once again.  Breaking free from the tentativeness of their previous festival-headlining slot at MusicFestNW, the band seemed energized to bring their show back to a more intimate venue with a devoted audience.  It makes one wish that Spoon would stop by every month of the year.

Hopefully we won't have to use this photo for the next concert as well.

Hopefully we won’t have to use this photo for the next concert as well.

It was clear almost immediately that the time spent touring in support of their excellent new album They Want My Soul was well-spent, as the band sounded crisper and more spirited than they did at their show this past summer.  Even during moments when it seemed like not everyone was in sync, there was still a feeling of calm that they would let any temporary road bumps slide and they could line up again soon enough.  This palpable sense of trust in each other allowed the band to flash some showier stage tricks (like Britt Daniel pulling a Johnny Cash and aiming his guitar as a gun to add an exclamation point to some of his licks) or recover quickly from quick fuckups (like Britt dropping the mic in “The Way We Get By”).

At this point it is nearly impossible for Spoon to come up with a bad setlist, considering they’ve released six stellar albums in a row, and as a result the band can choose freely from a deep catalog.  Though it was a bit disappointing for me personally to have Girls Can Tell shut out, that was balanced out by hearing hidden gems like “They Never Got You” from Gimme Fiction and “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case”.  Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga made up the lion’s share of the set, with a punched-up and dramatic version of “The Ghost Of You Lingers” being a standout of the early part of the set.  Driving numbers like “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” and “Don’t Make Me A Target” got the crowd bouncing along, with more than a few totally cutting loose during main set closer “Got Nuffin'”.

Britt takes stock of the audience

Britt takes stock of the audience

The encore kicked off with the fantastic “Black Like Me”, though it was a bit disappointing to have the crowd not respond en masse with the “yeah”s and “oh yeah”s.  I suspected that the cover that the band played was from The Cramps, and I was proud to see that my suspicions were confirmed as they indeed played their song “My TV Set” (while I try to be as knowledgeable as possible, my expertise is not perfect, and I only have a rudimentary knowledge of the band).  Spoon finished the night with “a song that I wrote in Southeast”, and the audience was overjoyed to hear that the ebullient “The Underdog” was a local product.  We can only hope that Britt comes back for more inspiration soon.

A Giant Dog were the first openers, and they were an energetic group that kept spirits high; it was nice to hear Britt plug their other show that night at Dante’s, noting though that if you saw him there to not talk to him because he wanted to truly take in their music.  Future Islands, despite all the accolades they’ve received so far, did little to impress despite my intention to approach them with an open mind; instead, I feel as if it may be necessary to note specifically what it is that bothers me about their sound, but I don’t want to take away any more from the main act.  Spoon delivered a superb show, and it’s wonderful to see their career continue to thrive.

Time vs. Money: A Debate

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With the recent release of their latest (and most likely final) album, The Endless River, now is the perfect time to do an article on Pink Floyd.  And since we’re unlikely to review a post-Roger Waters album featuring re-worked leftovers from The Division Bell, even if it was done as a tribute to Rick Wright,* we decided to write up a discussion we’ve had among friends for years, and settle a debate once and for all.  What is the best track from The Dark Side of the Moon: “Time” or “Money”?

vs.

Now, I am sure that there are those of you out there that will claim that neither of these songs are the best tracks from that album, and to that I simply say not only is that irrelevant, it is factually incorrect.  And I am sure that there are those who will say that Wish You Were Here is the superior Floyd album, and even though you would be correct, that’s neither here nor there.  We’re simply going to break down these two tracks (and only these two tracks) using “advanced metrics” to finally arrive to a conclusion that has eluded musicologists for decades.

Does the song feature an unnecessarily long intro?: Yes for both.  While “Money” quickly settles into its memorable groove, “Time” meanders for a bit with an ominous prelude that bears little in common with the rest of the song.  However, that intro does allow Nick Mason to play a drum part that is for once not the part of a beginner, so for his sake, we’ll give the nod to time.  Advantage: “Time”

Does the song feature annoying sound effects that are ridiculously literal interpretations of the title?: Again, Yes for both.  But the cash register noises from “Money” are less irritating than the flurry of alarm clocks and bells that kick off “Time”, the latter of which can provide all sorts of confusion when the song is only in the background.  Besides, M.I.A. proved the musicality of the cash register.  Advantage: “Money”

Are there any notable technical musical feats?:  Or to put it another way, is there anything in the song that music theory nerds would go crazy about while everyone else just nods politely?  And the answer is yes, for “Money”.  That song is an excellent introduction to teach people about odd time signatures, since it is written in 7/4.  People can clap along to the beat while nodding along with the groove, and then the nerd can point out that each measure contains seven beats.  There’s no similar music lesson with “Time”, ironically enough. Advantage: “Money”

Does the song feature the greatest guest backup vocalist performance of all time?: No, to either.  That honor goes to “The Great Gig In The Sky”, the song that bridges our two contenders. Advantage: Neither

Which song has the better “best line”?: “Money” does have one of the few lines with profanity that classic rock radio stations  don’t even bother to bleep with “Don’t give me that do goody-good bullshit”, but “Time” has the eloquent phrase “Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way.”  It’s that kind of self-deprecating attitude that makes one almost forgive the terrible acts of the British Empire. Advantage: “Time”

Which song has the better guitar solo?: While “Money” has a pretty rockin’ solo, the better display of David Gilmour’s technical dexterity and melodic sensibility are the myriad of leads from “Time”.  “Money” gets additional demerits because the solo section is in the much easier 4/4 instead of 7/4 like the rest of the song.  Advantage: “Time”

WINNER: “Time”.  If we tally up the scores, “Time” wins in a 3-2 decision, but even then it should never been in doubt–because Time IS Money, you can add all the winning points for “Money” into the “Time” column (it’s kind of like the square-rectangle relationship).

*This was not said as a slight against the band, just that we are probably unable to offer any opinion beyond “do we like it or not”, so it’s not really worth additional exploration on our part.

Covered: “Modern Romance”

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Covered is a feature where we examine the merits of various cover songs, debating whether or not they capture the spirit and intent of the original, if the cover adds anything new, and whether or not it perhaps surpasses the original.  If we fail on those counts, at the very least we may expose you to different versions of great songs you hadn’t heard before.

Recently we’ve linked to a multiple articles that discuss New York’s place in recent music history, including one that took a look back at the “rock revival” spearheaded by NYC groups at the turn of the century.  While many of the bands that initially tasted a bit of success (or at least caught a couple of weeks of intense buzz) have long since faded in our memories, there are bands that have endured to become respected elder statesmen and albums that have since become modern classics.  One such record is the debut album from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever to Tell.

The album is known for capturing the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s incendiary garage-punk of which only a select few had seen glances with their early EPs and their fiery live performances.  Fever to Tell is filled with all sorts of beautiful noise and anarchic glee, with singer Karen O expertly toeing the line between playfulness and pure sleaze, shattering normal stereotypes about gender and their resultant expectations with lines like “Boy, you just a stupid bitch and girl, you just a no-good dick.”  The band deservedly broke through into the mainstream with the gorgeous ballad “Maps”, which bucked the traditional YYY formula and showed another side to the band, namely one of vulnerability.  But album closer “Modern Romance” takes this shift a step further–after the brash shot of defiance that was “Y Control”, the band retreats with a declaration of existential ennui.  The weary resignation of the song captures the hangover after the raging party that was the rest of the party, and while it is difficult to accept, its placement at the end of the album indicates at least the band recognizes its existence.  The song is built on a monotonous yet hypnotic simple guitar riff (and an expertly deployed sleigh bell), as Karen O laments over the top with the fact that, try as we might, “there is no modern romance.”  On its surface, it may appear depressing, but somehow the band is able in its performance to convey a sort of rebelliousness, that while things as they exist may be awful, there is still the chance at change.

TV on the Radio, whom we praised effusively for their brilliant new album Seeds, recorded a cover of “Modern Romance” from their fellow compatriots in the New York rock-revival scene for their New Health Rock single soon after the release of Fever to Tell.  It’s a solemn performance, and those unfamiliar with the original would have little reason to believe it was a cover, as it’s dressed up in a lot of the production that is a TV on the Radio trademark (namely the gentle electronic drumbeat, the hazy atmospherics, and the various squiggly beeps, which combined with the soulful vocals help capture a lot of the early TVOTR sound).  However, despite the delicate vocal performance, the band doesn’t really capture any of the pathos of the original, and otherwise is unable to do enough to put a personal stamp on the song to answer the question of why record a cover, either than as a tribute of admiration.  It’s a respectable performance, but because of a lack of a perceptible intimate connection with the material it never really rises above an intriguing novelty; in other words, for TVOTR completists it is worth enough to track down the rare EP, but it’s not enough to stand side-by-side with the original.

Over the Weekend (Dec. 8 Edition)

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Lists, lists, and more lists.  Oh, and the most metal animal on the planet…

Once again, we have even more Best-Of lists for you to peruse, including Best Albums of the Year lists from The AV Club, Stereogum, and God Is In The TV (though they only have half their list published as of today).  You’ll see a lot of our favorites appear on these lists, but you can use these lists like we do and try to track down stuff that you may have missed the first time.  The AV Club helps out even more in this regard by listing all the authors’ ballots, including less-represented genres like metal (courtesy of the lists of Jason Heller and Sean O’Neal).  Also, kudos to Ryan Bray for having Tomorrow’s Hits at the top of his list, since we love that album from The Men so much and it hasn’t been getting the recognition we feel it deserves.

Run The Jewels, who is of course well-represented on these lists, released a new video for “Oh My Darling (Don’t Cry)”.  Though not as involved as their effort in “Blockbuster Night (Part 1)”, at least you get to see El-P and Killer Mike perform their verses on one of the highlights of Run The Jewels 2.

Speaking of music videos, we’ve got lists for those too, as Pitchfork rounds up a Top 20 and Consequence of Sound came up with a Top 5 (though they were more generous with their songs list, giving us a Top 50 that includes several RIJR favorites).  It’s no surprise that the Flying Lotus/Kendrick Lamar collaboration “Never Catch Me” is found on both lists (and probably others that we have yet to track down).  Though we featured it earlier this year, we present it to you once again for your convenience.

Considering the themes of that video and the Flying Lotus album in general, now is the time to note that today is the tenth anniversary of the murder of ‘Dimebag’ Darrell, and Billboard has a whole series of remembrances of the legendary guitarist that are worth taking some time to read.

We understand that not everyone can have taste in music that is as good as ours or our readers, and Noisey explains that despite this initial stumbling block, there are benefits to dating people with different musical tastes.

And finally, with a story that’s sure to generate some aww’s, metal salutes, and clicks, here’s the news about Slayer rescuing a homeless kitten.  No word on the condition of the homeless man in the story, but I guess we can at least take comfort that the kitty is safe.

Catching Up On The Week (Dec. 5 Edition)

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Some #longreads as you once again ignore the Grammys…

While lately most of their interviews have been rather serious, this week Run The Jewels have some fun talking to the AV Club about their love of Steven Seagal movies.  If you prefer analysis of their music instead, Stereogum has a piece discussing the significance of male friendship to their latest album.

There’s a reason that when watching the OutKast reunion this year that Andre 3000 didn’t feel like being there, and that was confirmed in his interview with FADER where discusses the specifics of his “selling out.”

If you’re looking for a gift for a music-loving friend, you might want to check out the book Check the Technique, which does us all a service by diving behind the scenes to provide us with information behind some of hip-hop’s classic albums.  The Atlantic interviews author Brian Coleman about both volumes.

Proving that just about every album gets the 20-year treatment, Stereogum has a piece on Bush’s debut Sixteen Stone.  While admittedly it was one of my first albums, it’s not exactly a landmark record, but the evolution of its reception makes the essay worth reading.

And finally, most of our Foo Fighters coverage has revolved around Dave Grohl, but this time it’s Pat Smear getting the spotlight.  Pat talks to Diffuser about the making of Sonic Highways and how he ended up becoming a part of Nirvana, as well as his unique take on guitars.  Though the introduction mentions only two of the legendary bands of which he was a member, rest assured, Pat does talk about his time in the Germs for a bit.

The War On Drugs, Live at the Crystal Ballroom

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It’s only been a few short months since we last saw The War On Drugs live in Portland, and the upgrade in venue from the Wonder to the Crystal matches their surging popularity over the course of this year.  When we last saw them, the band had just released their latest album Lost In The Dream to stellar reviews and they seemed poised to break through into the mainstream; eight months later, as Lost starts appearing at the top of everyone’s lists for album of the year and the band has a bona fide radio hit with “Red Eyes” (which by kicking off KNRK’s “December to Remember” series of concerts last night confirmed), it’s clear that The War On Drugs have arrived.  And just as they did back in the spring, the band came through with a spirited set that left an even larger audience buzzing.

Thanks to the bizarre layout mandated by the OLCC, a solid dead-center shot for this pic.

Thanks to the bizarre layout mandated by the OLCC, a solid dead-center shot for this pic.

After months of touring, the band’s setlist is a well-oiled machine: a strong natural flow has developed between the ballads and uptempo material, and the transitions between songs have now been smoothed over to minimize the delay for tuning and pedal adjustments.  As to be expected, material from Lost In The Dream dominated the setlist, with eight of the ten tracks represented (only the instrumental “The Haunting Idle” and the dirge-like “Suffering” failed to make the cut).  The peppy “Burning” made for a strong opener and set the mood, but it took the opening clicks of “Under the Pressure” for the crowd to begin making some real noise.  That was nothing however in comparison to their response to “An Ocean in Between the Waves”, which due in no small part to its extended solos received a generous applause and some hollers.

It’s clear that despite the affection the crowd had for the band and the new album, it didn’t inspire most of them to go back and pick up the early material, as cuts from Wagonwheel Blues and Slave Ambient were met with only the occasional cheer.  It was during these songs that The War On Drugs fell victim to the Crystal Ballroom Curse, as the overlapping of several effects pedals and similar-ranged instruments created a dense morass that made it hard to distinguish what was being played, even beyond the hazy effect intended by the material.  “These Arms Like Boulders” and “Come to the City” are gorgeous songs if you are familiar with them, but to the uninitiated can seem like mush, though the latter benefited from some nifty drumming that caught the eye of the crowd.  As many who have been to shows at the Crystal can attest, you need a top-notch sound man handling the mix or else everything can turn to crap.

Tuning up amid the haze; fog machine was working overtime

Tuning up amid the haze; fog machine was working overtime

Adam Granduciel kept the evening friendly with his crowd banter, talking about his love of Portland and how he was looking forward to seeing the Blazers play the next night at home (and he endeared himself to the crowd when some folks tried to correct him about the new name of the arena by saying, “It will always be the Rose Garden to me.”)  It didn’t seem at all like the band was weary from touring consistently for nine months, but instead that they had just hit their stride and were generally appreciative of getting to play another show.  The show still felt fresh, even if it was a similar script playing out each night.  As one would expect, “Red Eyes” had the crowd going nuts, but as it happened at the Wonder, “Eyes to the Wind” was the true highlight, with the fans giving that performance a hearty cheer to end the main set.  The encore left the casual fans a bit cold, but since they had heard what they came to hear, they couldn’t complain; meanwhile, I enjoyed going crazy at hearing “Baby Missiles” and its infectious beat once again.  And that was enough to help make the walk out the door seem twenty degrees warmer than the one coming in.

As for the opener, Summer Cannibals delivered a killer set of garage-influenced punk, a bit of a more harder-edged version of the Dum Dum Girls.  We had caught them earlier this year when they were the first openers for The Thermals down in Salem, but at least this time we were able to track them down and actually get their album.  We’ll see if it’s as good as their live show.

Covered: “Fuck Tha Police”

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Covered is a feature where we examine the merits of various cover songs, debating whether or not they capture the spirit and intent of the original, if the cover adds anything new, and whether or not it perhaps surpasses the original.  If we fail on those counts, at the very least we may expose you to different versions of great songs you hadn’t heard before.

In light of recent tragic and inexplicable events, it seems an appropriate time to discuss one of my favorite covers of all-time.  Growing up, I didn’t listen to much hip-hop beyond what would crossover into the mainstream, and focused much more of my attention on rock.  So my entry into classic hip-hop comes from a different direction than a lot of people, and was influenced by my love of Rage Against The Machine.  I became a devoted fan of the band soon after the release of Evil Empire, having been transfixed by Tom Morello’s ability to manipulate the guitar in ways beyond its intended purpose in “Bulls On Parade” and “People of the Sun”.  But I also appreciated Zack de la Rocha’s unique drawl and his fiery lyrics, which read into this as much as you need to, very much appealed to a politically-minded middle-schooler.  It wasn’t long before I attempted to track down everything the band did, and with the advent of file-sharing a few years later, that became easier than ever.

One of my first finds in the early days of Napster was a live recording of a one-time cover that the band did at a Philadelphia show back in 1995.  Apparently there had been concern by the local police that rioting would break out at the Rage Against The Machine show, because of the unassailable logic that angry music leads to uncontrollable hooliganism.  The large buildup of police at the show did not escape the band’s notice, and the band extended “a nice, friendly message to the fraternal order of police in Philadelphia.”

I loved the ridiculous pure noise that Tom was able to coax out of his guitar to mimic the turntable in the original and how by slowing the riff down and adding some distortion the entire band was able to create such a hard-edged groove.  It was the perfect example of the group’s ability to find the intersection between rap and rock, something that while many other bands attempted during that era but spectacularly failed to do so (as those who have the painful memories from living through the nu-metal era of the late-90’s can attest).  You can feel Zack’s genuine anger in his performance and the passion that he has in what he says, so it’s easier to forgive a few of his lyrical mistakes or that he only perform’s Ice Cube’s verse.  I loved this cover so much that I spent countless trips to the record store looking through their bins to see if I could find a copy of the import album Live & Rare so I could have it on disc, ultimately proving successful.

As big a fan as I am of the cover, nothing compares to the anger and importance of N.W.A’s original.  Their blunt reaction to the brutality of the LAPD was a shock to the rest of the country, but it gave voice to those who experienced repression on a daily basis but had been ignored to that point.  While many forcefully disagreed with the group’s view and felt that they were a threat, N.W.A was representing the point of view of a constantly persecuted group that felt the need to rebel in any way possible.  This is a response and attitude that is as old as popular music itself, but it speaks to the power of hip-hop (and the power of other biases) that there were those who assumed that every lyric the group spoke was intended to be the truth, and as a result should be censored (we’re seeing this play out once again with the recent Supreme Court case Elonis v. United States).

As for the music itself, the reliance on simple drum machines and turntables are a hallmark of the era but are also used to great effect.  The big hits with each beat provide a nifty contrast to the main funk sample, though the Twilight Zone-ish guitar riff used in the post-chorus hasn’t aged well.  As for the lyrics, there are several great lines throughout, and unfortunately as pointed out above, they are as relevant as ever.