Taylor's Choice:
The Roots - How I Got Over
The Roots have quite a musically expansive career. Since the early 90's the group has been mixing hard social politics and diverse musical influences to create a volatile blend of Hip-hop, one that is in rare supply these days. And after their 2002 masterpiece Phrenology, the group began taking a more somber and angry tone; their politics rang with more conviction than ever before, and the music that accompanied the frenzied, hardcore rhymes was raw and powerful, like being hit in the face with a brick. In particular, their 2008 effort Rising Down had a certain darkness that was as worrying as it was captivating, and it further established The Roots as one of Hip hop's most unique acts. Then in 2009, the group became Jimmy Fallon's house band for his Late Night program, during which they began preparations for their follow-up.
And here it is, their ninth studio album. The first thing one will notice is that it's considerably uplifting in tone; while their passion and and fiery political mindset is far from absent, the group focuses less on the hopelessness of one's circumstances and more about him or her getting over them, hence the album title. The record's climate is more hopeful and celebratory, and it's definitely a good change of scenery; while their previous two albums were undoubtedly fantastic (partly BECAUSE of their dark overtones), it's nice to hear less doom and gloom this time around. While some tracks are more effective than others (sometimes the price of optimism is cliches), the album triumphs because of it's steady balance between slow-burning and pep. The album's most surprising and interesting tracks are built upon collaborations with indie acts of the past decade; "Dear God 2.0" is a reworking of Monsters of Folk's track from their debut last year, and "Right On" samples Joanna Newsom's "Book of Right-On" from her 2004 debut The Milk-Eyed Mender. Hell, the girls from Dirty Projectors sing a melodic, wordless harmony on the intro track. It's an album full of surprises, twists and turns, and while it's not their best it's nevertheless a unique addition to their canon.
And here it is, their ninth studio album. The first thing one will notice is that it's considerably uplifting in tone; while their passion and and fiery political mindset is far from absent, the group focuses less on the hopelessness of one's circumstances and more about him or her getting over them, hence the album title. The record's climate is more hopeful and celebratory, and it's definitely a good change of scenery; while their previous two albums were undoubtedly fantastic (partly BECAUSE of their dark overtones), it's nice to hear less doom and gloom this time around. While some tracks are more effective than others (sometimes the price of optimism is cliches), the album triumphs because of it's steady balance between slow-burning and pep. The album's most surprising and interesting tracks are built upon collaborations with indie acts of the past decade; "Dear God 2.0" is a reworking of Monsters of Folk's track from their debut last year, and "Right On" samples Joanna Newsom's "Book of Right-On" from her 2004 debut The Milk-Eyed Mender. Hell, the girls from Dirty Projectors sing a melodic, wordless harmony on the intro track. It's an album full of surprises, twists and turns, and while it's not their best it's nevertheless a unique addition to their canon.
Hipster Rating:
8.6
Friend Review:
Hellllloooooo loyal readers. Do we have loyal readers? I certainly hope so. How do you like the new layout? I think it’s pretty nice, the three columns are definitely helpful and everything’s more organized… I’ll mess around with it later.
Okay, so this is my first experience with The Roots in any form, I don’t think I’d ever heard a single song from them before this listen. My first impression with this album was, “Jeez, this is pretty groovy.” The entire album has a very swinging vibe to it. While it does sound great at first, there’s not really much variety throughout the album. The album is only 42 minutes long, but it really seemed a lot longer than that to me. After the first few songs on the album everything starts to get repetitive (how many times can you repeat the song title in one song?). While the album was still pretty enjoyable, these were definite setbacks. Besides that, all songs have great flow, the lyrics roll off the rappers’ tongues like butter and every distinguishable bass line is danceable with a nice groove. All in all, I can see The Roots’ talents shining through in the album, but it’s just not organized well enough to keep me interested. The Roots’ musicianship is amazing, but the structure is lacking in this work. I think that The Roots are capable of much more than this album and I’d be interested in hearing of more from their collection.
Okay, so this is my first experience with The Roots in any form, I don’t think I’d ever heard a single song from them before this listen. My first impression with this album was, “Jeez, this is pretty groovy.” The entire album has a very swinging vibe to it. While it does sound great at first, there’s not really much variety throughout the album. The album is only 42 minutes long, but it really seemed a lot longer than that to me. After the first few songs on the album everything starts to get repetitive (how many times can you repeat the song title in one song?). While the album was still pretty enjoyable, these were definite setbacks. Besides that, all songs have great flow, the lyrics roll off the rappers’ tongues like butter and every distinguishable bass line is danceable with a nice groove. All in all, I can see The Roots’ talents shining through in the album, but it’s just not organized well enough to keep me interested. The Roots’ musicianship is amazing, but the structure is lacking in this work. I think that The Roots are capable of much more than this album and I’d be interested in hearing of more from their collection.
Friend Rating:
6.8
Coming up next, Serotonin by Mystery Jets!
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