Lil Band O Gold - The Promiseland album review
When you look at the album cover artwork of The Promiseland album by Lil Band O Gold, you automatically think of the vaudeville posters of the Victorian era and the Edwardian era with the boisterous bold font of capital letters all in your face directly at you! The large boisterous bold letters give out that antiquated feel and charm along with the opaque colors. This album cover artwork will take you on a journey backwards in time to the Victorian era. Notice how the color scheme is very antiquated with such monotone colors. To sum it all up, think about the vaudeville posters from the Victorian era and Edwardian era.
Louisiana Swamp rock heavyweights from the Bayou such as Warren Storm, Steve Riley, C.C. Adcock, Dave Egan, Richard Comeaux, Pat Breaux, Dave Ranson, and Lil Buck Sinegal all contribute to the soundtrack of this album. The Promiseland album is the soundtrack to the documentary film called The Promiseland.
Sunshine is one on of the best works of the album as described by one of the band members. Sunshine stands out in its own right and way. The sound quality in terms of production and performance is clear especially at the end. The end of Sunshine truly shines. Henceforth so on.
Take notice of the complicated accordion playing on the song Hard Enough. This is one complicated track. Production on the song The Last Hayride is clear. Sound quality is quite similar to Sunshine.
5/5*****!
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Habeas Corpus - Crucified album review
Beneath the Clay is a song exactly about how one must find their own meaning in life. With life comes change. Changes will occur throughout life. Life is what you make of it and with life comes curiosity. You will never foresee what lies Beneath the Clay.
Garden of Shadows seems to have been inspired by the Tomb Raider OST. Garden of Shadows is similar to Shadows of War. Think Tomb of the Unknown. Souls linger in The Garden of Shadows.
When Asked to Kill was inspired by the losses of the soldiers whom have which have suffered in war to gain our freedoms and rights that we have today. Soldiers are trained to kill and kill only. These soldiers are placed in hostile situations at young ages. These soldiers often asked themselves. “Will I be able to perform my duties?” “When I'm asked to kill...or be killed.”
Habeas Corpus comes at you from every from every angle and every perspective on this album! They enunciate clearly in their messages.
5/5*****!!
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IZ Kamakawiwo’ole - Alone In IZ World album review
Hawaiian musician IZ Kamakawiwo’ole is riding obese on the international success of his Alone In IZ World. This album made IZ an international success almost overnight. 2001 was a big year for IZ. The new enhanced arrangements in his live unplugged performances are what made IZ famous. He was clearly happy about his music and his life during the recording process of this album. That joy is clearly reflected visibly in this recording of an album.
IZ plays a killer version of the song Ulili E. Only this version of Ulili E is just a bit faster and was differently orchestrated than planned. IZ utilizes his killer ukulele playing skills. Mona Lisa will remind you of a time in Hawaii long passed and sorely missed. Long ago. Mona Lisa is a beautiful song. IZ expressed some of his feelings about the amazing arc of his life on the track In This Life. He had impact on us all in his life. In This Life is a simple Hawaiian melody.
5/5*****!!
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Lil Band O Gold - Plays Fats album review
This record was dedicated to blues musician Fats Domino. So Lil Band O Gold turned this album into a tribute album for Fats Domino. All 14 tracks on this album are covers of Fats Domino songs. Several classic songs from Fats Domino are covered on this album by Lil Band O Gold. Lil Band O Gold has graced their fans with such great Fats Domino Songs. The outfit was guitarist C.C. Adcock. The album obviously has a Fats Domino meets Lil Band O Gold type of feel.
4/5****!
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Barry G - Rugged Witness album review
Looking for some phat beats and old school gangsta rap lyrics meeting religious music? Barry G - Rugged Witness is the right album for you then! The beats produced by Barry G himself are rough and rugged. Barry G delivers his message of religious hope to the streets over rough and rugged gangsta beats. This album is one of Grapetree Records most earliest releases which is one of those sadly hard to find albums. After listening to this, you'll want to hear more of Barry G!
I got 'em represents the viewpoint of a giant in which Barry G is the giant of course. Barry G is a giant walking through the land of the lost saving plenty of souls thereof like Pentecost. He saves these souls an any costs. Whatever it may take. Barry G delivers his message of religious hope to the streets over rough and rugged gangsta beats.
Ain't nothin’ is a worthwhile track with a “smooth as silk” Isley Brothers sample. Ain't nothin’ discuss about how to never let anything change your mind as a believer and to never let anything change your mind about your faith.
4/5****.
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Papa Chuk - The Badlands album review
The Badlands album covers all topics in Hip Hop/Rap such as isolation, poverty, racism, police brutality, gangs, guns, sex, drugs, prostitution, revolution, and just having a good time. No filler tracks! Every track knocks. For example, he attacks social problems such as isolation on Desolate One, child abuse on Lord Have Mercy, underage prostitution on Show Some ID, and the problems of African Americans face today on Niggahs Will Be Niggahs. Trunk of Funk is trunk music. Flip The Shit, Down N' Dirty (which Champ MC is on), and Desert Dog are party tracks. IAB is a very revolutionary track. Runaway is too.
Papa Chuk has that Rudeboy & Reggae Jamaican accent that KRS-One, Biz Markie, Mad Lion, Redman, Lady Apache, and Little Indian had. It's really cool! Maybe that was one of the reasons the album didn't sell so well in the market. He sounded like he was from Jamaica or New York instead of Texas as the Geto Boys, Scarface, Nemesis, Ron C, Choice, and Point Blank did. The production was done by the locally known DJ Cassanova from the ATX. Production was also done by Kevin Moore, Amelia Moore, Double D of Wreckshop Records, Tony Dofat, Doug Lazy, O.C. Rodriguez, Scratch God, Shetero Henderson, and Bernie Bismark. There are a few guest emcee appearances from Champ MC, Butch Cassidy, Neil Young, and the local cats from The Texas Posse.
Show Me Some ID deals with the issue of underage prostitution. Show Me Some ID samples Down By The River by Buddy Miles. Down N' Dirty ,which Champ MC is on, is a party track.
Desolate One tackles the issues of social problems such as violence, poverty, and isolation. Papa Chuk goes mad reggae on Desolate One. In The Badlands, people carry guns and often resort to violence. Those are their tactics. Papa Chuk carries a gun for protection. Blacks are easy to resort to gun violence. Violence is very common amongst African Americans as Papa Chuk describes. This again is one of the problems African Americans face today.
IAB deals with how soldiers are treated in the military by the higher-ups in the government. Papa Chuk drops mad political science on the track IAB. Papa Chuk lets the United States Army that he is not their soldier toy. He now debates on the US Estate about how they run the world because they’re racist. The Foreign Affairs department of the US bombs Iraq for thrills. Papa Chuk establishes distrust towards the US Government. IAB is a very revolutionary track in its own way and its own right.
Papa Chuk deals with the social problems African Americans face today Niggahs Will Be Niggahs. For example the black on black disrespect in the black community. Mainly Niggahs Will Be Niggahs deals with the problems of African Americans of which they have. Blacks are easy to resort to gun violence. Violence is very common amongst African Americans as Papa Chuk describes. This again is one of the problems African Americans face today.
Lord Have Mercy deals with child abuse, sexual assault on minors, violence against such children, bodily harm towards minors, and plain outright abuse. The children that were mentioned in this track were used as tools for underage prostitution. The morals went away all at the children’s expense for that bliss sexual gratification. A heartless effort to earn a buck. People are under the false impression that children can’t get AIDS. Lord Have Mercy deals with the issue of underage prostitution.
Papa Chuk looses his mind about how there is so much madness, pandemonium, and insanity going on in the world on the track Runaway. Papa Chuk combats many issues that plague the American way of life and lifestyle as he does on many other tracks on this album. This is which he is known for doing for. Runaway samples Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay.
Papa Chuk vents out his frustration on this track. It’s quite hectic. It’s feels like Dr. Strange. You can feel that Dr. Strange vibe. Anyway, Papa Chuk shows no compassion for the country (US) he was born and raised in. Democracy in retrospect is another word for hypocrisy. Papa Chuk combats many issues that plague the American way of life.
Black people are often pimped out of the American lifestyle. They have AIDS injected into their blood track and drugs moved into their neighborhoods. Papa Chuk discusses how black people in America are played and pimped by the government.
Clearly Papa Chuk supports the legalization of marijuana. Marijuana is better than that alcohol. How many people do you hear about or know that have died from the high effects of marijuana? Legalize it and everybody will advertise it.
There’s nothing for Papa Chuk here. Mentally or spiritually speaking. If it weren’t for Islam, he would be virtually cloned, dum, deaf, and blind. A desolate mind of the American kind. Living off greed and welfare like everyone else. Mainly living off greed. He just wants to runaway. Runaway from all his problems and insanity.
For those who don't know, Papa Chuk (born Charles Roberts), was born in Oakland and moved to Houston at age 9. From that point, he went back and forth to his mom's house in Houston while he went to school in Austin. That's how he was regionally known in both Austin and Houston. He was popular there from 1992 to 1995. Papa Chuk is one of the founders of what was called the Sector A Movement (some were members of Texas Posse) with Big, Quince One, and X-Man who went on to work with Dallas Austin of TLC. You might remember his raw and gritty flows on the Funky Science/Texas Roughneck single/EP in 1992 with DJ Cassanova that came of Houston/Austin in the Early 90s. In the mid 90s he got shot when it wasn't cool to get shot. When 2Pac got shot, people started thinking it was cool to get shot. Now we have all these wanna-be studio gangsters. (That's another story. Look it up.)
The Badlands was one of the most underrated albums of 1994 in the HH/R scene. I don't know how this album didn't hit the BillBoard! It's a shame it didn't. Unfortunately this is his only album. This album is a must have for any HH/R fan! Hands down!! This album is great trunk music!
5/5*****!!
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Monster Voodoo Machine - Bastard Is As Bastard Does single review
Bastard Is As Bastard Does was a promotional only cassette put out by RCA in 1992. It was a red cassette with 2 songs that came with a sticker. The sticker was black and white. Only 500 copies of the Bastard Is As Bastard Does cassette were ever pressed. So this cassette is extremely rare. It's more of a single than an EP because it has 2 songs. The two songs, however, are 3 minutes to 4 minutes long at tops for the most part. The Bastard Is As Bastard single was an underrated single that was overlooked back in the day. Monster Voodoo Machine out of Canada proves to be an underground effort in the underground music scene.
4/5****
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White Rainbow - Sun Shifts album review
A limited edition of 100 CD-Rs handmade and hand-drawn by Adam Forkner. It is an hour and six minutes long. The song itself goes through many different phases and sections, finally fading out. There were a number of looper pedals and effects pedals used. Especially in their live concerts! You will love the arrays. The array is done well. Adam Forkner produced this album. Weirdness is one word to describe the whole album. One term to describe this whole album is over-the-top weirdness.
4/5****
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White Rainbow - Prism Of Eternal Now album review
This is album is not on one continuous track as the last album, Sun Shifts, by White Rainbow. This is more loop based work. Unlike ZOME this album has no title tracks at all. The back cover of the album is very similar of the label of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap with a pink background. This is something to listen to on your mp3 player. This is electronic music. Think Indie Rock! Also, think rock meeds electronic music. One term to describe this whole album is over-the-top weirdness.
4/5****.
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Vue - Vue album review
This Vue album starts off with a peppy upbeat monotone beat and tune with the track White Traffic. The guitars are loud and high-pitched hysterically. The beat gets repetitive after a while though. It’s hard to hear some of the lyrics. One term to describe the song White Traffic is over-the-top weirdness. Weirdness is one word to describe the White Traffic track.
Vue does a terrible intolerable job of covering Girl by the band Suicide. Girl is Vue’s cover of Suicide's "Girl”. Not too many were that impressed when Vue decided to cover this song. Vue proved to be cream of the crop material for the Sub Pop label from Seattle, Washington, US in the 2000s grunge era of music.
One term to mention in a single line for the track to Cotton Kisses is over-the-top weirdness. This track is just plain weird.
4/5****
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Enya - Amaratine single review
Track titles such as Amaratine, The Comb of The Winds, and The Spaghetti Western are tracks you would expect to see on the title for a book, an episode from a television series, or a record by a favorite artist. Titles such as these are quite memorable if you are an Enya fan. Amaratine is a single that all hardcore Enya fans and Enya fans in general should have in their collection. Enya is quite ambient in soul and in her music. The instrumentation is professionally orchestrated and falls perfectly into ensemble. Still, Enya sticks to her ambient, slow mellow trademark sound. Both Enya and Nicky Ryan do an absolutely wonderful job of production for this single. Enya is nothing raunchy or repetitive of that what you would hear on the radio.
Amaratine is the title track for this single and her album of the same name. This is the original/single version of Amaratine song ballad that was on her Reprise Records album called Amaratine. Amaratine is a smooth slow, soulful mellow ballad that included a well orchestrated grand piano playing in the background. Grand piano penetrates into the smooth soulful song perfectly.
The Comb of The Winds sounds very similar to an episode from a television series or a title from a mystery novel.
The track The Comb of The Winds is very mysterious itself. In spite of the ambient, slow mellow soulful trademark sound Enya is internationally well known for across the globe. The Comb of The Winds is still true to its ambient slow mellow roots.
The Spaghetti Western was the theme for the BBC documentary series called “The Celts”, The Spaghetti Western is a rare recording that has not been released or publicly available anywhere else!
5/5*****!!
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Z-Ro - I Found Me album review
The I Found Me album by Z-Ro was released on Straight Profit Records, KMJ Records, and SoSouth in 2016. The I Found Me album by Z-Ro is a collection of tracks from the Straight Profit era, KMJ era, and during his time on Rap-A-Lot. Many of these tracks were recorded from 1998 to 2007. Although a few new tracks such as Life, Nothing Left 2 Live 4, Roll On By, Stickey Ickey, and Slug Shoota are included on this compilation album. Den Den was responsible for producing a majority of the album.
Z-Ro mourns aways negatively about how he has nothing left to live for on the track Nothing Left 2 Live 4. Life is such a drag. Life is filled with pain. Z-Ro often wonders if he has anything left to live for in this world while he’s alive. This track was recorded during a depressing in Z-Ro’s life.
Z-Ro takes it back to the backpack raps on the gangsta rap track Slugshoota. This is the classic Z-Ro that all Texas Rap fans miss dearly. The Straight Profit era, KMJ era, and Rap-A-Lot era were the best times for Z-Ro as a rapper.
5/5*****!
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