Danny Brown Concert

 

 Last year I had the option to watch Danny Brown live but the band Converge was also coming on the same day. I had to choose between the two and chose Converge due to the fact that I don't get many chance to see Converge since Danny Brown seems to tour a lot.

But this Monday I saw Danny Brown live. and this Monday I got crazy. That Monday was a workout. This Monday was one of the best live performance Ive been to. To say it was wild is an understatement.


Ive loved Danny Brown for a couple years now ever since I heard XXX and The Hybrid. It's so awesome to see Danny get the love he deserves. The whole crowed was getting hyped as hell and was getting a little impatient but once Danny came on the stage the whole crowd seem to just rush forward causing a wave of body slams. During the beginning of the show I was in the front, then ended up in the middle, then the front, and then the back. I still don't know how I was moved around so much. The whole crowed was getting crazy during each track. EVERYONE went crazy, even me which is rare but like Danny Brown said "Yo you can't be at a Danny Brown show if you ain't getting turnt up!". Along with the beats by SKYWLKR, which sound great live, the whole crowd was just wild.

Danny Brown live was surprising, even though I knew it would be awesome it turned out to be greater. What really impressed me was how insane Danny Brown is onstage running around, jumping, and grinding on girls and he can still rap without missing a beat. I was just out of breath in the crowd and was like "How the hell can he still rap so hard while doing all the jumping and running". The highlights have to be the whole crowd rapping along to Monopoly, I Will, Lie 4, and all the new songs off Old (his new album due out this year)
. My personal favor was when he played Blunt After Blunt. Even though I was dying of thirst from sweating and being out of breath I felt obligated to join the chorus by yelling BLUNT AFTER BLUNT AFTER BLUNT AFTER BLUNT AFTER BLUNT AFTER BLUNT AFTER BLUNT AFTER BLUNT. It seemed endless but oh man was it fun and awesome.

If Danny Brown comes to your town, do yourself a favor and go and have a great time. But be sure to get wild, cause you don't then you ain't really at a Danny Brown show.

NOTE: Baauer, the guy who made the Harlem Shake song, played on this tour and was the headliner but I didn't stick around for him. Was strictly there for Danny Brown.

Action Bronson live concert this Thursday as well, Ill make sure to post my thoughts.

Low- The Invisible Way Review

Low has been a favorite of mine for many years. Their music is extremely interesting to me even though it can be very simple. Labels such as ''slowcore'' or ''sadcore'' have been used to describe the band but they seem to be very silly labels. Yes, Low is slow and yes, Low has a sort of melancholic feel to it but there is much more complexity to Low's music then what you hear on the surface. Low seems to cause listening to become emotionally connected to their music by playing minimalistic yet beautiful sounding music at most times a slow pace that takes some getting used to.

If you listen to Low's discography you can see a sort of evolution. The first three albums had the slow, haunting melodic beauty that is still present today in their music. Once Low teamed up with legendary producer Steve Albini they seemed to take a more experimental side by adding new instrumentation along with Albini's sparse yet wide open sounding production to create some very interesting music. Their most diverse album, The Great Destroyer, has them laying back on the sort of slow stuff and adding some surprising rockin tunes in the mix, its weird to say but Low made a summer album type album with that record. With Drums and Guns, Low went back to the experimental side and create a sort of political statement with the record with lyrics about war and new experimentation with electronics that has an eerie and powerful feel throughout the album.

After 20 years of music Low has become a band that is truly unique and has a sound that is fully evolved. With the new album, The Invisible Way, Low has come back with the same Low sound adding a lot more piano and acoustic guitars to the mix and having Jeff Tweedy of Wilco fame producing. The acoustic and piano give the album a very natural feel along with Tweedy's production. The whole sound of the album is complete and consistent.

What makes Low so powerful emotionally is not only the soft sparse music, its the vocals between guitarist Alan Sparhawk and drummer Mimi Parker (husband and wife). Alan Sparhawk voice is soft but filled with emotion. When you hear him sing you can hear sadness and anger as well. Along with Sparhawks brutally honest lyrics the listener begins feel as if he is hearing someones inner thoughts that are all too personal. But this is balanced by Mimi Parker wonderful vocal harmony that sounds beautiful. She is one of the greatest voice in indie rock.

The music on this album is very nice and has moments of sadness as well as uplifting tracks. Plastic Cup, Amethyst, Waiting and Clarence White are three standout tracks that really capture what Low. Songs like So Blue, Holy Ghost and Just Make It Stop displays Mimi Parker beautiful front and center. On My Own features a great break from the acoustic to have a noisy guitar in the background for the last 3 minutes. The whole album has lot of mixture of sounds that is truly pleasing to a Low fan such as myself. There is some new elements mixed with the old elements which cause for a great pleasing listen. While many new listeners may not pick up on such subtleties I feel that The Invisible Way has something for everybody regardless of your music taste. This is a great Low album and one of the best Ive heard this year.

Cannibal Ox- New EP Gotham Review

When I first heard about a possible Cannibal Ox Reunion, I immediately got extremely excited. If you don't already know who Cannibal Ox is do yourself a favor and listen to the classic album The Cold Vein. The Cold Vein was a decade defining and genre breaking hip hop album that sounded like nothing else at the time, and still. This is partly due to EL-P's fantastic futuristic dystopian beats and producing and Vast Aire's and Vordul Mega's skillful wordplay about abstract concepts. The album is futuristic yet gritty and a unique listening experience.

Since then Cannibal Ox was no more after The Cold Vein. El-P went on to a solo career that has been very successful, he is a producer/rapper that has created his own sound and he is still as fresh today than he was then (his 3rd album Cancer for Cure was in my top 5 for 2012). Vast Aire and Vordul Mega have let out a couple solo album as well. The gap between The Cold Vein and this EP seems to prove the opinion Ive had for years, Vordul Mega is way better than Vast Aire. Most of Vast Aire solo ablums, I believe he has about 4, were not up to par while I found Vordul Mega to be a more skillful rapper. As a duo, they work great.

So Vordul Mega and Vast Aire are back but there is one thing missing. EL-P PRODUCTION! El-P has stated that he will NOT be a part of the new Cannibal Ox output which was a huge disappointment for me but I understood where he came from and from listening to the new EP I can sorta understand why. While the EP is good and still has that 'sound', I think what made The Cold Vein so interesting was that it was the first of its kind. It sounded different and strange but very interesting. It really is something of its time and can not be duplicated.

So what about the new EP? Well the sound is still there on the song 'Gotham' which features a great Vordul Mega and a sorta abrasive Vast Aire. Overall a nice sounding Cannibal Ox.

The next song Gases in Hell seems to be a Vast Aire song since not once did I hear Vordul Mega. It has a really cheesy chorus and has everything I find annoying Vast Aire. He seems to throw words that rhyme, just cause they rhyme although they don't make sense and sound stupid and in my opinion very try hard. "My style is fat, reminiscent of a whale" ???? WHAT?? I mean its clever in a way but it just comes out awkward and silly.

The last song, Pslam 82, sounds like a Wu Tang song and features the gritty lyrics of Vordul Mega. Vordul Mega flow on this is so awesome, he just seems to ride his flow and you can hear the skill behind it. His stream of conscience flow comes off as calculated and very calm. Vast Aire verse seems to just be Sean Price like punchlines during the end the song, which is something Vast Aire is somewhat good at.

Overall, the whole thing sounds like a Vast Aire EP featuring Vordul Mega. Now I now I am biased by liking Vordul Mega way more but the The Cold Vein sounded like a duo and this doesn't. Even though I find Vast Aire a bit lack luster, there is no denying that without him it isn't Cannibal Ox. Yes, I do find him annoying at times but sometimes he comes up with the best lines. Vast Aire seems to be the more abstract punchline type rapper and Vordul Mega seems to be the more introspective and lyrical, together they make a great duo that provides two different sides making Cannibal Ox a compelling listen. Although they don't really show it on this EP, I won't hold it against them since its an EP. Hopefully the LP features an improvement.

Take a listen the the new EP here:
http://belowsystem.bandcamp.com/