Native Tongues, Portland Stylee?
J. Rosenberg | Portland, Oregon | 05/12/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you love the campy vibe of Seventies Blaxploitation movies, or the goofy humor of the first De La Soul album, or concept albums in general, this new Lifesavas joint is highly recommended. Portland, Oregon is a now-practically-legendary creative mecca for independent music -- anything goes, boundaries between genres are porous, rent is cheap, so many of the most exciting artists working today are based here: The Shins, The Decemberists, Modest Mouse, Laura Veirs, Stephen Malkmus, The Gossip, the late great Sleater-Kinney. Hopefully this album will bring the hip-hop side of the equation into the limelight as well. Portland is a pretty pale town, knowutimsayin, so it's great that there's still such a vibrant hip-hop scene here.
Check it out -- this is the party album of Summer '007 -- it's a license to chill!"
Solid Sophomore Album
C. Riser | pdx,or | 07/24/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As with virtually every album, there are good tracks and bad tracks. I find that if there are more than four impressive songs on an album, I have struck gold, and here is nothing less.
Production: All of the production is incredible. Double Up might be a hard listen for some due to the fact that there are vocal samples underneath the verses and a hard hitting snare/crash. Once my ears adjusted, I found it one of my favorites. "You can lose all your money... 'or bubble up.'" My other favorites are flawless bangers that hook you from the beginning. Gutterfly, No Surprise, A Serpent's Love, Dead Ones, The Warning, Superburn,The Squeeze, Freedom Walk, and the surprise track (not listed here) Tailormade Razorbladez. Seriously, these are all certified beats.
Lyrics: JUMBO kills it on the mic. Let me say that right off. But if JUMBO kills it, VURSATYL is the lyrical equivalent of eternal punishment. Every single time his voice emerges over an instrumental, it is mind blowing the mastery he exhibits over his delivery, his rhyme patterns, and his voice is just commanding. Tailormade Razorbladez is their abstract, underground hip-hop track for the backpaker heads (like myself), and Vursatyl's verse should come with directions.
Compared to the duo, none of the guest lyricists come anywhere close to the overall potency of JUMBO and VURS, nor does anyone else really seem to be totally in their element, though they make for good supporting actors.
High concept albums are hard to pull off, but I think the theme is well sustained on every track. There is a clear storyline throughout, yet many tracks stand up quite well on their own (again Gutterfly, No Surprise, A Serpent's Love, and The Warning, for example).
And, though I haven't seen them perform any of the tracks from this album, I am highly anticipating their next live performance in the Town, especially due to the anti-establishment anthem Superburn. That track will blow any crowd to pieces.
Overall, if you like hip hop or blaxploitation films, and especially if you like both, you need to cop this at your neighborhood music shop in person."