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.

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.