Lion Heart

Taken from a 1970s adage by George Rodriguez, "It is better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb," One Day As a Lion officially has come to fruition with an EP that features a teasingly, small five tracks.

If someone told me Zach De La Rocha (vocals, electronic keyboard) would be uniting with Jon Theodore (drums) fusing two of the best alternative bands in the past decade (Rage Against the Machine and The Mars Volta), I wouldn't have held my breath. It seems that the marriage is so unbelievably natural that you wondered why it hadn't happened before. The first thought that will undoubtedly come screaming from your consciousness is how eerily close this band sounds like Rage Against the Machine. This is a true testament to how much of Zach's style was in RATM. His rat-a-tat style of rapping fused beautiful rhythm was all the pattern RATM needed to fire its message in the membrane of every woman and man from the age of 18-30.

"Wild International" is the first single that was leaked and released from the band. First composed for a successful union attempt to accrue fair wages from McDonalds the song was first ceremoniously called "CIW Why" until Zach re-wrote most of it and released it under the aforementioned title. Featuring all the good parts of Rage, ODAL kind of feels old hat. Comprised of just two men, they have even said they want a "sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque, fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomical realities it attempts to mask." Good words, but does this album feel evolved or powerful enough to achieve such feats?

The fact is, it feels sluggish, slow, and stale to start out. The theory of this album makes sense, but at times you just feel like Zach's words may not be the centerpiece of this album, which it should be. While on RATM, his voice shot through the music like a serrated knife through cream cheese, but not now. "Ocean View" features the usual distorted guitar effect, but it often feels oppressing against Zach's style of rapping. The holes aren't matching up. Two styles are fighting for prominence in this song and the wrong side wins.

"If You Fear Dying" is the best track featured on the self-titled EP. The juxtaposed sound they were going for finally feels conveyed. The brooding, distorted guitar lays the bed for the track, but it's Theodore's stark drumming rhythm that makes this song feel like it's teetering off a cliff, overlooking the dark abyss below. Instead of draping over Zach's vocals like a blanket, it feels quilted to enunciate all the right parts reminding you of how powerful De La Rocha can be given the right ambience. This song also features Rocha singing the melodies in a almost raggae tone spirit. "If you fear dying/Then you're already dead." This is the soundscape promised to us by ODAL. This one track has me excited for the next stint. Hopefully, they can channel the sound captured here.

The song that shares the same name as the album is a fitting ending. The lo-fi vision that Rocha and Theodore had in mind is realized here. With lyrics falling into the dissonance created between the percussion and aggressive, whooping guitars. It's hard not to feel the blood rush to your face as Rocha resembles his anti-myth rhythm rock shocker persona that he holds with a iron-fist grip. The bass lines set the low end of the spectrum while high squeals punch the high end with beautiful melodies stacking this hero sandwich sky-high. It is perhaps the track that sets them furthest apart from RATM and that is a good thing. One thing that could be said about this record is that it slowly weans the RATM die-hards off their old sound by de-evolving into a natural predator set aim at the world collective. And boy, the last minute of One Day as a Lion ends in a roar, fist-pumping, head-banging, all-out explosion of pathos that only Rocha can stir up.

This is not a perfect beginning, but Rocha and Theodore would scoff at any such description anyways. The best part is that Rocha is primed and ready to start pulling the trigger and he may be more unsettled than before. Time and age has only unleashed the beast that has long since been dormant.

"I'm the orange jumpsuit that's tailor made/I'm a flick of the shank that opened your veins/I'm the dusk, I'm the frightening calm/I'm a hole in the pipeline/I'm a roadside bomb."

Damn right.


8/10


This. Is. Truth.

My Depraved Soundtrack

...May the haunting footsteps of those lost strike a chord of merriment that in fact we are not alone...

I can't even feign the importance that the circumstances of my demeanor and disposition are mine and mine alone. Millions around the world with conditions worse and ultimately heart-breaking may scoff at my despair. And while that brings some measure of comfort, I have only one life to live and when the bottom slides out from under my stable ground, I have no knowledge of the depths that I descend into.

Damien Rice said once that he couldn't write songs unless he was sad....

Melancholy melodies often find themselves more poignant than those spirited tunes, partly because we recognize and appreciate the kinship misery feels with its kind. However, I can't help but relish the serrated beating of my own heart lapping up pools of my own disdain for my own temperament. It's useless to curse the skies. It's useless to waste the bold, brave energy that being angry lazily points its beam towards. Anger has produced bombs that have destroyed innocent lives that have no business paying for other's transgressions. Angry is apathetic. Anger is easy.

I am not angry....I am disappointed and dead.

Dead to the ways of the past and born anew, fostering a new set of ideologies to tackle the obstacle at hand. I must continue to perish and awake new like a phoenix out of the ashes. I allow mere moments to mourn the passing of another son, but I must learn to remember the mistakes and improve. Anything else would be sacrilege. So, as the devil cackles somewhere in the dark, I can only begin again.

And how does this deal with music?

All conventional logic points to irrelevance, but in times like this, I think of how war-torn nations and poverty-stricken projects have produced violent light so bright it can't be ignored. Rappers such as Nas, Jay, and a slew of others that not only made it out, but brought some experiences to mainstream audiences who may not have otherwise been given such a visceral testimony. Illmatic, often regarded as the best hip/hop album of all time features first-person narrative of a young Nasir Jones accounting death, life, routine days, and grief housed within the fenced hell that manifested itself as the Queensbridge projects.

I will fall....

And continue to fall because I have too much pride not to. I am destined to do more than what I have allowed myself to waste during the first 23 years of my life. I have allowed myself to make excuses for myself and lend comparisons to others when there are none. I am an individual responsible for lifting myself out of this grave that is slowing filling in. I will fall because it's the only way we learn how to pick ourselves back up.


This. Is. Truth.

N.O. Easy 3-Peat

"I love being misunderstood /Why?/Cause I live in the suburbs /But come from the hood"

The self-proclaimed, Best Rapper in the World, Weezy F. Baby delivers his third installment of Tha Carter to much anticipation. For so long, rappers have straddled this invisible, impossible line between staying true to the people from their hoods and appealing to the people that will pay their way out of the hood. How can you sell a million records and still stay true to the people that were blowin your tracks out of their Deville back when you were your hometown's best kept secret?

Enter: Tha Carter III

The supposed final piece of tha Carter trilogy feels like a streamlined, polished piece of art that strives to be better with each listen. And with the cover art parodying Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die and Nas' Illmatic, his intentions are heard in volumes: He's here to change the rap game. In the song, "Mr. Carter," Wayne fires, "And next time you mention Pac, Biggie, or Jay-Z/Don't forget Weezy Baby," which just furthers his efforts to align himself with the few rappers that have been able to bring the hood with them on their rise to super stardom. And if this record were his resume for the title of greatest rapper on Earth, the references of Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Babyface might just push any doubter in his favor.

The first single released off the album, "Lollipop" will forever be the song that changed Lil Wayne from great rapper to great artist. Suddenly, Wayne was heard all over the world on the radio, T.V., and club due to that song. The sweet melody layered in between the robotic-sounding, yet sweetly crooning voice of Wayne exposed a new path for hip/hop to follow. Hot on the heels of Kanye's Daft Punk remix of stronger and T-Pain's successful singles, "Lollipop" took all the above and meshed it down into a syrupy banger that would open eyes towards Wayne and his hip/pop music endeavor.

Beyond the disorientating nature in which he delivers his message, Wayne has more one-liners than the entire cast in the movie, "First Sunday." Self-diagnosed in the song, "La La La:" "Wittier than a comedy/Nigga write a parody/But I ain't telling jokes...apparently," Wayne is so lyrically different and talented, it can come across as laughable.

"...Savage like Lil Webbie and Randy..."
"...Even Gwen Stefani said she couldn't doubt me..."
"...I don't O U like two vowels..."

Nearly every line is a double-entendre and while this builds an interesting rhyming pattern, it is the intended meanings that drive this record. Both "Comfortable" and "Tie Me Down" are Wayne's most straight-forward songs on the CD besides "DontGetIt." Sounding strangely exposed and intimate, Wayne explores love and loss in ways that go past the usual rapper's bravado. Using Robin Thicke, a certain soul is infused into "Tie Me Down" that conveys the evolution of the already elder Wayne in the rap game. Just further proof that Wayne has come a long way since riding the coattails of rappers such as Juvenile to finally grab the spotlight himself at an old 25.

This record is one of the most important rap albums in a long time because Wayne now stands poised as the next legend. Successfully bridging the gap between pop and underground hip/hop with this album, the hard part is now over. With Jay and Kanye talking about other avenues to explore, music needs Weezy as much as Weezy needs his music. Creatively, he will try everything to demonstrate and illustrate his martian-like environment in which he operates, and the fact he already has a decade of musical work under his belt means the progression into the jarred, inexplicable mind of Wayne is far from over.



8.5/10


This. Is. Truth.

Gnarls Beck-ley

It's hard to fault a guy for having the bravado and talent to release such an insignificant piece of work. I don't mean insignificant in the meaning that this is a bad record, there's just very little about it that stands out in comparison to Odelay and Midnite Vultures. Beck Hansen has never been afraid to let an audience into his inner sanctum that is his music. It's hard to believe the anthem for the whole emo world in "Loser" is over 12 years-old. Once you get over the fact that this album isn't reminiscent of those records in the mid to late 90s, you might appreciate its odd texture and disorientating structure.

All but one track produced by DJ Danger Mouse, you can definitely tell his hand was all over this record. Starting with the track, "Orphans," the sound of space is infinite. You've heard Beck do this on a couple of tracks on Sea Change, such as "Lonesome Tears," but never this deep or satisfying. While Sea Change had the feeling of a natural, flowing stream, Modern Guilt sounds like a mechanical, gnawing beast. Danger Mouse preserves the best of Beck with critical, precise drum samples that sometimes leave even Beck hanging off the polyrhythmic pattern. "Orphans," a fun-loving 60s melody with enough meat to keep you bobbing your head for days, has a dark interior. In fact, if there was one summation for this record, it could be that this may be the darkest record in which to dance alongside in his discography. "Cast out these creatures of woe/Who shatter themselves/Fighting the fire with bare hands," croons Beck. Danger Mouse and Beck weave ominous prognostications with obscure laser sounds, clapping hands, scratchy synths, and plugging bass lines like it's old hat.

And it does sound old. Beck sounds like some journeyman from your parent's generation. Fusing country rock with everything under the sun, there is a certain belief that he could mix a red and blue crayon in his hands and produce the perfect purple hue. In the first released single off of Modern Guilt, Beck decides to unleash the incredibly infectious tune, "Gamma Ray." Sounding like a B-side off of Gnarls Barkley's The Odd Couple, the use of space and reverb only serve to amplify this song's true spectrum. Starting with the toe-tapping guitar riff, Beck starts in with, "Trying to hold/Hold out for now/With these ice caps/Melting down." A true hippie at heart, California's son continues to unleash his fears and warnings under the soundscape of a Byrds' song played in fast forward.

It's undeniable to hear his angst bleeding out of tracks such as "Chemtrails" and "Volcano," resounding his struggles to appease everyone including himself. His darkest track on the album, "Chemtrails," recalls watching so many people drowning in seas swallowed by evil. To be a Beck fan, you do have to go through songs where Hansen can be self-effacing and deprecating and this is no different. However, even through these moments, where his voice lurches through the songs in a pathetic pace, there is a tranquil beauty there that begs for a compassionate ear.

"Youthless," one of my favorite tracks, is simple in design. With a crunching guitar riff juxtaposed with his voice dubbed in a stop and go fashion, the haunting track screams Abercrombie and Fitch and will, undoubtedly, be a staple at your local GAP. Timed under three minutes, this song is an implication of the record's length. Modern Guilt wasn't designed to mull itself over. 10 songs is all Beck needs to plant the seed and wait for the innocuous virus to sublimely take hold.

Perhaps it doesn't need re-mentioning, but this isn't Midnite Vultures and that's ok. Beck has chosen to ditch Carl Stephenson, The Dust Brothers, and Nigel Godrich for a collaboration that works with Danger Mouse. And though not really bringing anything completely fresh to the table, he manages to produce music that spirals in the shape of a double helix, taking his lyrics and melodies that are altogether parallel, yet joined at the hip. Born to a musician and visual artist, perhaps it's time to resign to the fact that making good music is in his DNA.


8/10

This. Is. Truth.

Flow Robots

There are some real identity crises here. Just who are Flobots? Are they the crusaders constructed to lead society to some higher consciousness through rebel-rousing anthems and some clever word play, or they just another megalomaniacal group that will never be as intelligent as Zach de la Rocha's fingernail? Listening to Fight With Tools, you get a fair argument for both cases.

In a world full of trite sentiments, any group claiming to have higher perspective than the masses runs the gamut of being called patronizing and hypocritical. In the song, "Same Thing," Jonny 5 spits lines like: Somewhere between prayer and revolution/between Jesus and Huey P. Newton/That's where you find Jonny 5 shoot shootin. There are some lines in this record where you forget if this is about the cause or the band. Though this album does achieve the aspect of starting discourse, I'm not sure it's the discourse they had in mind. You start to wonder if they've ever seen racism or bigotry, or are they just another band emulating the formula of a Public Enemy because of some over-pixelated videos on Youtube?

One of the highlights of this album comes with the track, "Handlebars." In a song that reflects and redefines what true power is, this song is meant to take aim for the world's collective
consciousness. And as the trumpets swoon and guitars distort out of a Tommy James and the Shondells hit for the crescendo, even the most dense listener might find their right hand raised in the air. But for the smart listener, it may come across that they are trying very hard to be something they're not. As the end careens to a fiery explosion, you hear Jonny 5 shout, "And I can end this world in a holocaust," with a sample of a crowd chanting in agreeance. For some it's powerful, here it's just cheesy.

"Never Had It" features an opening sung by Mackenzie Roberts (violist). This song is completely derailed from the sub par vocal performances. It was like they were channeling the outcome of this song with its title. This is a rap group. They should not forget it. This fortunately flows into a jazzy, bluesy track in "Combat", which in my opinion, is the highlight of the record. Laying down a simple beat box and head-swaying bass pick, Jonny 5 murders the track, which lets the audience know he may be more comfortable in a freestyle nature. Building song structure is different from letting him go crazy over a sample.

The record ends with slowly building, "Rise." A call to arms, reaching out to those that want a change. Musically, this album isn't horrible, it's actually pleasant. But when entering the arena of conscious hip/hop, you are remembered by what you say and not how you present it. Flobots can't seem to climb their way out of cliched, pop-dom. Everything sounds theatric and self-serving. No world-avenging band will ever to shake bigotry, greed, and globalization, while sounding this pretty on the outside.

In the song, "Handlebars," Jonny 5 raps, "I can keep rhythm with no metronome." With each song falling in the same rhythmical structure, part of me wish they would have smashed the metronome in a million pieces.


6/10


This. Is. Truth.

Striking Gold

If there were ever a better time for a funky, melodic, sound explosion, 80's loving, singer, I wouldn't know. Santi White aka Santogold lets loose with piercing shrieks at the beginning of "Creator," and from there it only gets more wild. The smooth bass lines juxtaposed with the jarring, crunchy chords of the lead guitar build the verse in "You'll Find A Way," just to seamlessly flow into this dreamy bridge, which inevitably cuts back into the headbanging chorus.

Santogold's self-titled album is her maiden voyage, literally. We start off with L.E.S. Artistes which sounds like it was signed, sealed, and delivered by less-babbling Macy Gray. This simple pop tune sets the preface for the album and slowly draws the unaware listener into the world that is Santogold. There are enough musical influences infused in this album to break the backslash button on your computer. Noticing that the album received pushes from genre expanding producers such as Diplo, Sinden, and Switch, the only expectation could be the unexpected.

One true gem comes in the bass-heavy pop tune, "Lights Out." It is just a pure example how effortlessly she can change dynamic with her voice. With a surgical cut, she slices open her pathos and bleeds directly into the core of this tune, giving it a certain vulnerability. Yet, Santogold never seems to relinquish her iron-tight fist on this record or her listeners.
I'm still shaking my head/The one you account for/I keep just one step ahead/There's no place to run. Her bravado seems at some points unparalleled and unheralded.

This album, although drawing comparisons with M.I.A.'s work, might stand as undefinable. People from every genre are clamoring to put this album in their tent, but to the girl who grew up listening to The Pixies and 1980s pop music, definition is human habit. As mechanical as this record may be, it all seems to congeal into this natural, organic byproduct of music and true creativity.

8/10

This. Is. Truth.

The Jump Off

This is about to change. I don't know what you want to call this. A transformation? Evolution? Call it what you want to call it. As my world continues to spiral into a frenzy, so will this blog. I hold no reservations to any particular subject. These are my thoughts. Unfiltered. Unflinching. Unrelenting. I have no allegiances or ties. I am one 23 year-old, African-American male trying to break through the walls of expectation and stereotype. I'm passionate. So passionate, it takes these words to keep my heart from exploding. So know, I'm bringing these thoughts to you with every keystroke I can muster.

I yearn to be the most eloquent, well-respected, man in the world.

Over the next couple of years, I will update this blog with meaningful passages that will hopefully create a pathway into my life. Just graduated with a Journalism degree from the University of Oregon, my life has just officially begun. While most are scared of the unknown, i welcome the darkness that impairs my vision. As much as my eyes may not be able to see what is in front of me, my vision is still firmly intact. People refer to this road as a connector between ourselves and our destiny. Only there are many forks and side paths that will altogether lead you to the world you envision. There isn't one right way. So don't be afraid to throw caution to the wind and try several avenues. I am not afraid.

The only thing to fear is fear itself.

This my inner sanctum. My prized treasure is the words that I hold dearly. And now I present them for the world to see. It doesn't take an official to give an opinion. So here we go...

May He lead me in the right direction. Point my footsteps. May the world hear it for what it is.

This. Is. Truth.