Buraka Som Sistema - Black Diamond (2008)

Buraka Som Sistema
Black Diamond (2008)

It's probably foolish to debate how much attention this album would've gotten had M.I.A. not been on the lead single, "Sounds of Kuduro", so I won't spend too much time dwelling on the hypothetical. But the fact that people have actually heard of Buraka Som Sistema can probably thank she of the hottest single of 2008 (only the Amish have not heard "Paper Planes" by this point). Otherwise, this band would've likely remained unknown outside of their territory except by the most astute hipsters, who surely would've used it to throw in the faces of the less aware ("Yeah, M.I.A.'s okay, but I like Buraka Som Sistema's style better").

As the lead single suggests, Buraka Som Sistema specialize in a style of music called Kuduro, born in Angola and popular in Portugal and surrounding areas. You'd be forgiven for never having heard of it, but save yourself the trip to Wikipedia: there's very little to distinguish Kuduro from most other forms of high-BPM electronic music. It's rhythmic, danceable rave-style music, and I'm willing to wager that 4 out of 5 listeners can't tell the difference between Kuduro and any other forms of rhythmic, danceable rave-style music. You could note Kuduro's mild African flavor and the political nature of its lyrics (if any), but you'd more or less be splitting hairs.

Like most rave-style music, Black Diamond comes dangerously close to overwhelming listeners with the beat. The album starts off strong, with the aforementioned "Sounds of Kuduro" as well as "Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)" providing early highlights, but midway through the album it all starts to get tiring, and not necessarily because of a drop in song quality. The album is actually pretty consistent, but with this style of music, rigid consistency often leads to boredom.

Thank goodness, then, for "New Africas Pt. 1 and 2", which comes out of nowhere and gives Black Diamond a much needed change of pace; slowing things down before introducing a dark, brooding, dub-style beat. The two parts of the song only play for about a combined six minutes, but it's more than enough time to save this album from the mediocrity that it had been driving toward.

Buraka Som Sistema is unlikely to follow in M.I.A.'s footsteps in terms of popularity, but a follow up album that improves upon what they've done on Black Diamond may give them a legitimate shot.


Score: 7/10


"Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)"


"New Africas pt. 2"

Girl Talk - Feed The Animals (2008)

Girl Talk - Feed The Animals (2008)
You've heard Plunderphonics played in your local discotheques, but now you can bring all of the fun and excitement right into your own living room with the new Plunderphonics Trivia™: Feed The Animals Edition!!! Here's how to play:

1) Each player gets a notepad and a pencil provided in the game package. Insert the Feed The Animals music CD (also provided in the package) into your media player of choice to begin Round One.

2) The goal of the game is for each player to identify as many of the samples as they can recognize and write on their notepads the name of the recording artist and song title that the sample comes from. Points in Round One are tallied as follows:

One (1) point for correctly identifying the artist only.
Two (2) points for correctly identifying the exact title of the song only.
Three (3) points for correctly identifying both the artist and exact song title.

3) Round One ends at the conclusion of track number five, "Set It Off". Stop the CD and have each player calculate their total (refer to the master list of songs on the album's Wikipedia page. The player with the least amount of points is eliminated (assuming at least two players remain).

4) The remaining players may then begin Round Two, which starts off right where the previous round left off and ends at the conclusion of track number ten, "In Step". Points in this round are tallied as follows:

Zero (0) points for correctly identifying the artist only.
One (1) point for correctly identifying the exact title of the song only.
Three (3) points for correctly identifying both the artist and exact song title.

5) At the conclusion of "In Step", stop the CD. Have each player calculate their total for Round Two only (again, refer to the master list). As at the conclusion of Round One, the player in Round Two with the least amount of points is eliminated (assuming at least two players remain).

6) Begin the third and Final Round where Round Two left off. The remaining players will listen to each of the remaining songs on the album. Points in the Final Round are tallied as follows:

Zero (0) points for correctly identifying the artist only.
One (1) point for correctly identifying the exact title of the song only.
Five (5) points for correctly identifying both the artist and exact song title.

7) At the conclusion of the Final Round and the Feed The Animals music CD, each remaining player is to calculate their total for the Final Round. The player with the most amount of total points throughout all three rounds officially earns the title of Plunderphonics Trivia™: Feed The Animals Edition Ultimate Music Snob and is the loser of the game!!!

The winner? The player eliminated in Round One who didn't have to listen to this annoying, piece of shit album all the way through. Seriously, as "fun" as this experiment is, hearing Vanilla Ice and the Ying Yang Twins at the same time doesn't make for a great listening experience (neither does hearing them individually, for that matter).


Score: 4/10


"Still Here"


"Like This"

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree (2008)

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree (2008)

Seventh Tree album review, short version:

Some of these songs are reeeeeeeaal pretty. The others, kinda plain.

Seventh Tree album review, longer version:

Read any pre-release material for this album, and you might've been convinced that it was more of a folk record. The album cover even seems to hint at as much: a picture of Alison Goldfrapp standing in the plains with the dawn sun rising in the background and her wearing a simple white dress (for the sake of convenience, lets ignore the funky pirate hat). It's a fairly stark contrast from, say, Supernature. But once you get past the first song, the excellent "Clowns", the realization becomes pretty clear: this ain't no damn folk record. What it is, though, is a more subdued album in comparison to her last two releases electro-dance pop feel. The songs here compare more closely to the work on her first album. Seventh Tree is more organic, yes, but it isn't exactly folk. Folky at times, perhaps, but not pure folk.

Having established that, there are a few genuinely good songs on this album that achieve a stunning downtempo beauty. Songs like "Some People", "Eat Yourself", and the aforementioned "Clowns" can be a real joy to listen to. The only problem is that they are sandwiched in between a handful of songs that are similar yet nowhere near as striking. They're nice enough, not terrible or annoying, but suffer from being completely forgettable; almost impressive in their unimpressiveness. Which is why this album can best be described as "hit and miss". Even two of the albums' singles, the significantly more poppy "Happiness" and "Caravan Girl", live by that formula, with the former song being the "hit" and the latter failing to make an impression.

Overall, though, this is worth keeping around for a chillout listen every now and then. Just don't expect to be blown away or anything.


Score: 6/10


"Clowns"


"Eat Yourself"

Daedelus - Love To Make Music To (2008)

Daedelus - Love To Make Music To (2008)

Daedelus wants you to get biz-aaaaaayyy. Not in the bedroom though, as the album's title might suggest, but on the dance floor. Which isn't nearly as interesting, but hell, let's just go with it.

While his previous full length, Denies The Days Demise, took the form of a concept album loosely based around the story of Little Nemo, this album seems to be made to resemble a live experience. Most of the album follows a distinct flow where the songs somewhat blend and the tempo changes are gradual from track to track. If I were into dancing, or was a DJ at a dance party, I'd see this album going over well for those who like to bust moves and such. It shares some common aspects with Girl Talk's recent downloadable album Feed the Animals. Yet, unlike that album, Love To Make Music To isn't so much of a hyperspeed, dance-centric mash-up that it can't also be enjoyed in a normal listening environment as well, such as in the car...or say, on your iPod at work in a warehouse-sized building, which is much more common for most (read: me).

There isn't much that could be considered filler on this album, though it does start to lose it's way in the last third or so, where there doesn't seem to be any plan for the songs other than for them to be on the album. While the songs are enjoyable on their own, it is a little disappointing that Daedelus couldn't maintain the flow of the album's first two thirds. Another complaint is that some of the songs seem to lack that trademark Daedelus charm. He's managed to establish a unique sound for himself throughout his career, yet some songs on here seem like they could've been done by any halfway decent electronica artist. But this complaint is probably more relevant to a long time fan than it would be to a newcomer to his music, who wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Overall, it's a strong release for Daedelus, who continues to be one of the more worthy electronica artists out there.


Score: 7/10


"Twist The Kids featuring N-Fa"


"Only For The Heartstrings"