Album Review: I Am Not a Human Being - Lil Wayne

I have a friend who’s been a dj for awhile, and I respect his opinion on hiphop. So when I asked him who he listens to these days, he told me he likes Lil Wayne. But when I asked him why, all he could say was ‘I just do.’ And when I told him Lil Wayne reminds me of Gollum from Lord of the Rings (with a little Cobra Commander mixed in), he couldn’t argue with me, but he didn’t care.

My point is this - yes, Weezy has skills. But no one can seriously explain to me how you can enjoy music made by a man who sounds like he just got kicked in the stomach. So when an artist comes out with a new album, and I’m not really a fan to begin with, it takes a little extra to get me to come around. And after listening to I Am Not A Human Being, nothing’s changed.

First off, for the most part, the beats make me drowsy. I think the inappropriately-titled Gon*rrhea is appropriately creepy, and Right Above It with Drake is a tolerable slice of hipPop. But what I really want to hear is Lil Wayne do a collabo with RZA (circa 1992) to make something truly disturbing. Why? Because Lil Wayne’s style is dirty and filthy. And when you embrace your persona, you can do great things - just ask Redman or the late ODB.

Overall, I give I Am Not a Human Being a 3.25 out of 5. I believe one day, there will come a time when Lil Wayne decides he’s made enough money doing what his mainstream fan base wants him to do. And when that day comes, and he finally decides to be himself, we could witness something truly revolutionary.

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Album Review: Hands All Over - Maroon 5

Getting to the top of the pop-rock mountain takes luck and hard work. And when you find a winning formula, you stick with it. Maroon 5 has figured out that keeping it clean, upbeat, and catchy is the key to success, and their new album Hands All Over is another example of a gameplan executed to perfection.

Let me preface things by saying I would never be caught dead buying a Maroon 5 album. As a self-respecting heterosexual male, you just don’t do it. The lead singer’s a semi-metro heart throb with a high-pitched voice that’s filled with longing, and it’s calling out to your girlfriend to leave you and hang with him. And when I hear the songs, all that comes to mind is the snappy soundtrack for a romantic comedy.

That said, this is also the kind of crisply played pop you don’t mind hearing if you stumble across it as you’re listening to the radio. My own personal prejudice aside, Adam Levine is a capable lead vocalist who kind of brings to mind a modern day Phil Collins. And if you’re not expecting a mind-blowing guitar solo or anything out of the ordinary, the band plays tight, head-nodding instrumentals that cross seamlessly over musical and social boundaries.

The key to all of this is that Maroon 5 knows what they do well, and they don’t stray from it for the most part. Hands All Over doesn’t really feature any sappy, slow ballads, or experimental tracks that come at you from left field. It’s your ideal mall music, or something a woman can download and put on her iPod workout mix.

Overall, I give Hands All Over a 4.25 out of 5. It’s a fast-paced, light album that feels a lot shorter than its 18 songs.

Download Hands All Over on Amazon

Album Review: Wake Up! - John Legend and The Roots

As a serious fan of hiphop over the last 15 years, it’s always been cool to learn about the old soul and R&B samples that producers used to make many of my favorite tracks. And the more I listened, the more I appreciated the difference between classic R&B that was made before I was born, and the watered down product we’ve heard over the last ten years.

In fact, I was starting to question whether the genre even existed anymore, especially with all the new singers injecting pop, hiphop and sex appeal to boost record sales. Then I listened to John Legend and The Roots’ new album Wake Up! and I realized it’s not dead - it’s just dormant.

Deep organs. Drums and guitars with swagger and attitude. A top hiphop and soul band that’s as close to a musical chameleon as you can get. A smooth vocalist bypassing the pop and adult easy listening he’s better known for, and tapping into something a little deeper. Put it all together, and you get music that makes me wrinkle my nose a little, because it’s just that funky.

Figures that it’s an album of remakes and covers. In that sense, it’s sort of like Jurassic Park - Wake Up! proves we have the resources to re-create something that was pretty cool, but that died off awhile ago, which makes it a little empty. The question is when we’ll get to hear something fresh that builds on the tradition. Personally, I’m waiting for D’Angelo to quit playing and finish what he started.

Despite all that, I give Wake Up! a 4.5 out of 5, good for Editor’s Pick status. Soul and R&B have fallen off a lot in recent years, and hopefully this reminder of what it once was will snap the talented back to attention so they can make it great once again.

Download Wake Up! on Amazon

Album Review: Passion, Pain and Pleasure - Trey Songz

I remember the last time I reviewed a Trey Songz album, I was hoping he could be a little more consistent with his next effort. And almost one year later, he’s out with a new pop R&B record laced with hiphop flavor. He’s shown flashes of potential over the years, and with Passion, Pain and Pleasure, he comes a little closer to fulfilling it.

I admit that with last year’s Ready, where I thought everything was a little undercooked, I missed on a couple singles that did well on the charts, like I Invented Sex and top 10 hit Say Aah. So let me amend that review a little and say that it was at the very least a hit or miss kind of album, with more over-exaggerated misses than legit hits.

By contrast, Passion, Pain and Pleasure seems a little more steady and consistent. It’s a little less pop, and a little more classic, smooth R&B, with the exception of club banger Bottoms Up. His voice still has a tendency to flutter out of control at times, sort of like a youth who gets a little overexcited and narcissistic in the heat of the moment. The breathless young female groupies will still eat it up, but at some point, he’ll need to rein it in to appeal to a wider audience.

Overall, I give Passion, Pain and Pleasure a 4 out of 5. Trey Songz needs to work on keeping his composure while convincingly conveying his emotions to a mature audience. But the progress he’s made over his last couple albums shows that he can get it done one day.

Click Here to download the album on Amazon

Musicolio.com: Social Networking for Musicians

If you want to make and share great music, you know you can’t do it alone. But how do you efficiently find the people who can help you with your musical, business, and legal needs? The web is the best way to cast a wide net these days, and a new site called Musicolio can help you focus your search.

Simply put, it’s like a combination of LinkedIn, Facebook and Craig’s List for musicians and industry professionals. You start by signing up for a free account and filling out your profile with basic info, including sample audio and video if you have any.

Then you search for the help you need based on who you’re looking for (e.g. instrumentalists, vocalists, managers, tour security, etc.), your geographical location, and style of music. There are also classifieds and forums where you can share knowledge and resources.

I tried it out for myself, and it was pretty easy to use. The one issue is that the site is pretty new, so it doesn’t seem like there’s a ton of users. I did some sample searches for common types of musicians and services in big metropolitan areas, and often got few (if any) results.

That said, I like the concept, and Musicolio could prove to be a pretty useful tool as the community grows. Try it for yourself and let us know how it goes.

Album Review: Red Clover Ghost - Red Clover Ghost

When I review an album, I give an artist or a band extra points if they do something unique without sacrificing the quality of the music. And after listening to Red Clover Ghost’s new self-titled album, I can honestly say it’s different from most submissions I get in my email inbox. The band describes it as “a collection of acoustic tracks ranging from americana to bossa-nova-esque jazz to straight pop/rock.” I have my own two word description - gypsy music.

But not the kind that belly dancers get down to. It’s free-spirited, fun, and lively, yet mellow. Many of the tracks center around strummed guitars and understated, pleasant vocals, but there’s a lot more going on. For example, the glockenspiels in tracks like Anna make you feel like you’re like taking a leisurely journey under the stars to nowhere in particular. And the banjos in songs like Watch You Fall add a friendly, folksy element that makes the music feel more accessible.

What stands out to me the most is how the album establishes a brisk pace without relying on traditional rock-style drums. In many of the tracks, you’ll barely hear the percussion, but the music maintains its form and shape because of the conviction in the banjo or guitar playing. And when the percussion rears its head a little more, the patterns are often unconventional and interesting, like in Everybody Run.

Overall, I give Red Clover Ghost a 4.25 out of 5. Unlike P90X, this isn’t muscle confusion, or music confusion - it’s a fusion of different styles and elements that’ll give your ears a welcome workout.

You can listen to the album and download a copy off the band’s website.

EP Review: In Her Yard - Jonathan Meek and the Mutes

Sometimes a band’s name says everything you need to know. And with Jonathan Meek and the Mutes, it tells part of the story. Not that they’re meek (or mute), but on their new EP In Her Yard, they have a quiet, laidback, sentimental sound that you can appreciate depending on your mood.

The one thing I can say about this band is that they have the coffeehouse sound down pat. The instrumentals are generally drum and guitar-based, although you’re also liable to hear handclaps, synths and other interesting sounds that break up the typical indie-rock monotony.

That said, I think this band is still finding its sound. For example, in the first track As A Kid, you have vocals, a dreamy, shimmering synth, and a soft guitar laced with what sounds like a triangle for the first couple minutes. Then suddenly, the hard drum kicks in and instantaneously drives up the energy level.

Maybe they meant to do that, and yes, I’m picking on only one song, but I like buildups and smooth transitions. This is a band that’s good with the softer stuff, but they’re still figuring out how to really rock, at least on this album.

Overall, I give In Her Yard a 3.25 out of 5. The playing and vocals are solid for the most part, and I’m looking forward to hearing how they develop their sound in the months and years to come.

Listen to In Her Yard on the band’s website before it drops on 10/5/10.