[Reviews] "Miles Ahead" (O.S.T.) / ROBERT GLASPER - "Everything's Beautiful"

Part 1: Miles Ahead (Original Soundtrack)
 

A couple years back Don Cheadle finally got the go-ahead to produce, star and direct in his long-time dream project, a surrealistic biopic on the lives of Miles Davis, more fiction than fact and titled "Miles Ahead" after his famous 1957 collaboration with composer extraordinaire Gil Evans. With full cooperation from the Davis estate he was free to use the original music of the portrayed star (something that has hampered biopics badly from the Andre 3000 version of Jimi Hendrix story to the more recent Chet Baker flick, "Born to be Blue", which incidentally includes two key scenes with M.D.). Not only had Cheadle permission to use the music as he saw fit, he was also able to excerpt it and cut it up to better flow with the movie - and let's face it, if he was to include all those amazing 20 minutes tracks in full there wouldn't be much of a soundtrack to talk about. The majority of the released film music is made up of such timeless excerpts from our heroes vast catalouge, including brilliantl, and tastefully shortened, classics like "Sivad", "Nefertiti", "Agharta Prelude", "Go Ahead John", "Black Satin" and "Solea". While the movie avoids following a linear narrative the soundtrack starts with the earliest song included, the title track, and then the music is placed in chronological order with most of the musical action taking place during Miles' fusion years (1968-1975) as that's around the time most of the movies action take place. However if you, like me, already own just about everything Columbia ever released of the man, including bits and pieces, somewhat dodgy live recordings and what not, you might not be too excited. But it has a nice flow to it, is interspersed with appropriate vocal clips from the flick, and as it is placed in chronological order it gives a nice overview of Miles, the ever-changing, daring artist going from place A to place B to place C to Musical Dark Nivana before his total breakdown in 1975. If you're new to Miles and maybe jazz in general I would say that this collection is a better place to start than most other similiar one disc selections. For one it's put together by a true fan of the music rather than some exec trying to pump out some more money by yet antother greatest hits collection, as mentioned above it gives you the chronological oversight which allows you to hear multiple styles (with Miles it's never a given that you're not gonna hate point B even if you love point D - at least not at first), and last but not least it features key cuts from what many would consider to be the epitome of this artists genius years.

The actual score for the film was however provided by Robert Glasper - a brilliant pianist, producer and jazz artist in his own right, and one of the few who keeps the artform alive and exciting by allowing it to change and take risk (unlike someone like Wynton Marsalis, no matter how talented). For this soundtrack Glasper had the right understanding of what was needed and through proper respect for Miles and the filmmakers he was able to channel the spirit of him while gathering up talents as diverse as they are from different generations. Included on the four tracks that are also included on the soundtrack are the young bass wonder Esperanza Spalding, Pharoahe Monch, Herbie Hancock, E.J. Strickland and Wayne Shorter. With one exception the modern Glasper cuts are placed at the end of the album and as ahead Miles was back in the days, you won't even notice a very modern/old transition thing going. The soundtrack come highly recommended both for established fans of the trumpeter, but even more so for those more unfamiliar and curious as well as Glasper's loyal fanbase. Shit either camp need to hear this for the beautiful album closer "Gone 2015" where Robert Glasper's soulful production and keyboard grooves creates a sharp feeling of triumph, strongly underlined by young trumpeter Keyon Harold's channeling of Miles' sound and the excellent verses by Pharoahe Monch. You can buy the album at iTunes or Amazon here.

Part 2: Robert Glasper - "Everything's Beautiful"

 
Robert Glasper's experience with Cheadle in "Miles Ahead" and especially the estate had a huge impact on him as a life long fan of Miles Davis. Like Madlib when he produced his classic Blue Note remix album "Shades Of Blue" the producer/pianist got full access to the Columbia vaults for whom Miles recorded under exclusive contract bween 1956 and 1986. Although most of those tracks that were once rare have since seen official releases on expensive box sets, it sets the album apart from your average remix scavenger assemly as Glasper could manipulate the actual channels and so forth. An interesting point is that he uses a lot of Miles' voice, that famous raspy whisper, taken from various studio sessions and in-studio jams - allowing fans the relatively quiet musician to hear more of his voice than on any other previous M.D. project. But perhaps the most important aspect to know about "Everything is Beautiful" is that this is a Robert Glasper album in all but name, despite Miles' top billing. The LP's theme is of course Glasper's theme of the music and spirit of Miles, something that I think he sometimes manages to capture and sometimes not, as it's built around samples of the man and his music. But that does not mean that you will hear Miles' beautiful trumpet sound on every song, in fact it's really only on "So Long (Maiysha)" and ONE MORE that we get that and though it's unique it kind of feels like being shortshifted. But it's not only Miles and the trumpet that takes a back seat, Glasper's role as a firs rate jazz pianist is minimized as well as he really only gets to stretch out on a couple of pieces. Instead he is fully attacking this project as a producer, picking the samples, making sure the guests does what they are supposed to do and gets the right track to work on, makin sure the vibe of Miles Davis is to be found all throughout the LP's 50 minutes, and so on.

For me Glasper is a unique artist that is hugely talented but we doesn't always see eye to eye on what a dope album from start to finish is. I liked "Black Radio" and "Black Radio II" quite a lot, but there were definitely tracks that I felt brought down the intensity of the overall product. The best thing in the "Black Radio" series for me is without a doubt the six song EP "Black Radio Remixed" which is just pure excellence from start to finish. And I kind of feel that the same thing is happening with "Everything is Beautiful" - some tracks really gets the jonez in my bones; the wonderful light bossa nova Miles on wah wah / Erykah Badu duet that is "So Long" (a new rendition of 1975's "Maiysha"), the gorgeous Phonte collaboration and first single "Violets" where Glasper makes a beautiful hip-hop vibe soul joint based around Bill Evan's timeless chords from "Blue in Green" that works as a tremendous musical canvas for the ever innovating Phonte. The opener "Talking Shit" is beautiful because it is three minutes of studio outtakes from false starts that features Miles getting on drummer Joe Chambers' case about coming up with a beat more aking to what we today know as Hip Hop. It's definitely fascinating, and naturally leads into Glasper's hip-hop tinged version of that track Chambers and Davis was working on in '69 - "The Ghetto Walk" (originally titled "Ghetto Walkin'") and with the smooth vocals of Bilal riding on top of the fat groove I feel that Miles would be proud. of what the producer has come up with here.

However as a tribute to Miles Davis I think aside from the songs mentioned above it generally fall shorts. Oh wait, there's one mighty groove featuring Miles' spitting adlibs under singer Ledisi's hook ("wait a minute, wait a minute") while a pulsating funk headnodder is highlighted by the excellent electric guitar work of former Miles' sideman John Scofield who does his best to bring back the mid-'80s period where he worked with the man on stages and studios around the world. And this to my mind is where the project goes somewhat misguided. Miles' sideman, which features the absolute elite in jazz, pretty much all had the highest respect for their former boss and bandleader and while Glasper's songs on the "Miles Ahead" soundtrack featured Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, Scofield is the lone sideman featured here. Hence using artists like Laura Mvula, Hiatus Kaiyote, KiNG and Georgia Anne Muldrow (who's rendition of "Milestones" is decent) instead of fusing the old with the new by inviting Dave Liebman, Sonny Fortune, Jimmy Cobb, Chick Corea, Wallace Rooney, Jack DeJohnette, John McLaughlin, Lonnie Liston Smith, and so on, really feels like a missed opportunity. It's not a bad record per se, but it's not a great one either - though it has it's share of great moments. I won't be purchasing it, but give it a listen it might be more up your alley as many critics seems to love it at the moment. "Everything's Beautiful" is available on vinyl, CD and in digital formats via Amazon among other sites.

[Best of 2013] #1: MF GRIMM & DRASAR - "Good Morning Vietnam"

In my recent review of MF Grimm and Drasar Monumental's second collaborative EP, "Good Morning Vietnam Pt. 2" I stated that it was most likely the best album of the year. And here we are, at the 2013 countdown and the #1 spot of the year here at The Lost Tapes is shared between Ghostface Killah's "Twelve Reasons" album and Grimm & Drasar's "Good Morning Vietnam" project. What is different here from my original review, is that I have decided to put the two EP/mini LP:s together as a united record, the way at least in my opinion they are supposed to be heard, although Volume 1 of "Good Morning Vietnam Vol. 1" was released in the last months of 2012, so it might be a bit of a cheat but after having heard this album so many times there's very few times I haven't listened to both volumes as a fron-to-back project; the way I strongly believe they are supposed to be heard. I have an interview with both Grimm and Drasar coming up sometime early next month, which will either confirm or deny this, though I have a strong feeling this is how they are supposed to be heard considering they deal in similiar themes, both lyrical and musical, and "Vol. 2" pretty much picks up where the last track of "GMV.1", "Matula", (GRrimm's truly heartfelt dedication to his aded out. In my mind there's no question that "Good Morning Vietnam" (with its two volumes) should be heard as a true album, which has a running time of 59 minutes and never for a moment get boring. So while this review will focus on both records, if you want to read an more in-depth reviews of the separate records, look up my earlier reviews for "Good Morning Vietnam Pt. 1" and "Good Morning Vietnam Pt. 2". 

Drasar Monumental is at least for me a relatively new name on the scene; the fiirst I actually heard him was just before the first EP dropped with a few mixtapes including the "Pre-Emptive Strike" mix. MF Grimm, however, has been a long-time favorite of mine - since I heard him on DOOM's "Tic Toc" and then the following 2000 Grimm/DOOM EP, I've been followin his career on and off, and over the last couple of years really intense. The veteran emcee have obviously constantly pushed the boundaries of hip-hop and its formats (dropping a graphic novel; an album created around DOOM's "Spice & Herbs" instrumentals; "American Hunger", the first 3xCD of original music ever released in hip-hop and so on). "Good Morning Vietnam" marks the first time Grimm has worked exclusively with one producer, and also is the first time he has released an album made up from multiple EP sets. I've said in my original review of "Good Moning Vietnam #2" that it was Grimm's finest, most complete and ineteresting release to date as of yet. Grimm has always been a superb wordplay artist with a lot of things to say on a whole lot of topics, but what makes it truly fantastic is the chemistry between him and producer Drasar Monumental. These two share such a chemistry that they could almost been lost brothers at birth, at Drasar pulls out the best out of Grimm and vice versa. On top of that, they are both interested in pushing hip-hop forward while staying rooted in Golden Age-esque hip-hop updated to the modern times. The digital review copies sent out the two volumes together consists of two tracks; one clocking in at about 20 minutes and the other 'round 39. This pleased me a lot as I've always been a champion that album (and EP:s) should be heard as a cohessive whole. With most modern albums this would be a travesty since too many artists are single focused, and can pack a 20 track album with about eight good songs. Luckily, Grimm and Drasar know what they got on their hands - a true qualit product, with not an ounce of filler and also a concept album that needs to be heard from front-to-back. 

In my original review of "Volume 1" I assigned it a 4/5 rating, while I awarded the follow-up with the higest score - two ratings I still stand by, but however when listening to the album as a whole 2xLP (and Volume 2 taking up twice the running time of the first) the rating for the project as a whole can't be ny lesser than 4.75/5, which is just about the same rating I'd hand out to the shared Lost Tapes winner by Ghostface. While Ghost's album was entirely free of samples, Drasar Monunemtal not only usees samples exclusively, but he's truly a genius aat manipulatng them. While Grimm often goes from rugged street stories to inrospective lyrics, Drasar is always right there, digging up, and chopping up samples to perfection; never having a problem accomaditing to  the style in qiestion, no matter how contradicting it can ata few times be. While MF Grimm has been a long time favorite of mine, and Drasar was introduced to me to their respective works, I don't at all view this as just a Grimm record. Of course it is, but its just as much a Drasr Monumental album, and one of the two could never have made this brilliant album - which stand as the best representation of both artists work up to this point. In two continuous long tracks you are invited to take a dark journey of war and ghetto rhymes of the two artists own exoeriences in the the US battlefield (whhich stands in for a modern time Vietnam war. The concepts are taken even further than Grimm's lyrics and Drasar¨s agressive pproduction. The listener are constantly bombarded by war sounding sound FX, machine guns, bombs, etc. as well as several movie excerpts relevant to the theme. The second part which introduces the heroin trade between Us and The Golden Triangke. Here numerouss relevvant clips of Denzel Washington from "American Gangster are placed between Digita Underground's classic "Heroine", and other relevant skits. The skits, sepecially on the scecond installment, doesn't in any way take away from the music but at times it does feel like thhey slightly overkill.

Judging the two EP:s as an album is really how I believe it's supposed to be heard. The journey starts wth the impeccable title track "Good Morning Vietnam" and closes with the truly beautiful "Burning Dayight (4 You & Me)". The former tracks starts off with blasting sirens and machine gun fire, setting the listener firmly in the warzone wih a slightly muted sample of a 1965 Vietnam protest song by Country Joe & The Fish's. This leads us to pwerful opening if I ever heard one, a very dark), complex track with severala layers of music and pounding drums. Grimm's "Your triflin' favorie rapper will decipher this/ encipher this/ J watched so may die for/ Studio can't leave spot, pure cheeba/ Haikus rock three lines like Adidas, Jet Jaguar, the meanest/ Possessed by the Midaz bless wiith the righteous .. Enemies get down on knees and bag, I attack like black plague"  further shows his mental state at this part of the project - All out war!

As I wrote in my original review, the final track on the second EP "Burning Daylight" offers something as unique as the artist actually offering a sort of solution to the prooblem that has been presented throughout the album. The problems we have been exposed to by the duu for the latger part of the album , metaphored as NYC as a warzone, can of course not be easily solved and brought in with a solution presented with a nicely tied knot around it. However, Grimm has clearly put in a lot of thought on the first steps to making a better life for you and me, which is very condemnable. The song is really a two track suite; with the first part "What Went Wrong" presenting the problems and asking the question of the title. Grimm begins sammanfatta the problem, getting closer with each verse. "What are we doing, where are we going?", he asks. "Can we repair it, or should we just severe/ Thought we would never , but never say never/ Wasn't clever, secret endeavors/ What went wrong?.. What went wrong?" ... With each bar and verse he comes closer to understanding what went wrong, and how first steps to a better life could be achieved; evidence of a true genius artist, a term i don't throw around lightly. "Tears in my eyes of the dreams we're killing/ Dreams of us building, Dreams of our children/ This track is revealing how I am dealing.. We need some healing, but no one is willing/ I'm having some troubles connecting my feelings/ I'm laying on the floor but hitting the ceiling.. What went wrong?".. And so on. 

Then the final track "Burning Daylight" hits, and it is a beautiful musical catharisis to the often somber and agressive music and the vivid hardships of struggling people everywhere. Musically it is the perfect closer - it's an addictive, soothing song with an absolute beautiful vocal sampe, that at times is even integrated in Grimm's own lyrical performance. It's musical and lyrical beauty creates a very wecome contasting counterpoint to the rest on the album, both from a lyrical and soincal point of view. "Sunrise, sunset, stay alive, it's a fight/ Solar energy properly burn daylight/ True redemption in sight, I choose the path that rights/ Few rich, many poor, nothing new under the sun/ Through all barriers, I'll be the one ... Focus on energy, refuse to bring me down /March through hellfire, nothing can stop me now/ Government trying to rock you to sleep, I'm rocking you, rocking you, rocking you", of course meaning rocking you out of the sleep the massmedia and Governmental agencies we are all trying to be put under, and this isnot a US problem only either. "Born to succeed, mind filld with enthusiasm/ finer things in life, not jealous of the ones that have them/ I'm not trying to be offensive but being poor is expensive/ Economy warfare, victory wellshared/ Make a better life for you and me... Never need again, afford better medicine/ Before the lights go out, we can pay Con Edison". A brilliant way to end the best record of 2013, a 19 track journey into the mind of MF Grimm, the unbelivably ill production work by Drasar Monumental and the chemistry these two display together. More need to hear this record, because it  haven't really been featured on that many blogs and don't even think sites like HipHopDX or 2DopeBoyz would do promotion for this. Head over to Vendetta Vinyl ASAP and purchase both EP:s while you still can get them. You won't regret it, whether you're a long time Grimm fan or completely new to both Drasar and Grimm. Excellent hip-hop at this level comes around one or two tiimes in maybe two years, sometimes longer than that, and the least you can do for these guys and their hard workk is supporting their music,

[Best of 2013] #1: GHOSTFACE KILLAH - "Twelve Reasons to Die" / "The Brown Tape"

These days, Ghostface Killah is often mentioned as the best and most versatile member of the Wu-Tang Clan, with the catalouge to back it up. His more recent project however (such as "Apollo Kids", "Wizard of Poetry", and "More Fish") all had their moments, but they often felt very uneven in their both beat choices, and at times even Tony Starks himself fell into the trap of generic street raps; clearly influenced by fellow Theodore Unit member Trife Da God. Luckily, 2013 finally brought back Ghostface where he's supposed to be, as one of the top lyricists in the game and one of the absolute best story tellers hip-hop has ever seen. This was thanks to wonderchild multi-musician and arranger Adrian Younge and executive producer The RZA who sketched up a concept for Ghost to work from, and gave him the best beats since perhaps "Supreme Clientele". The album was released in two versions, the ordinary Adrian Younge produced "Twelve Reasons to Die" and the Apollo Brown remix album "The Brown Tape", both released on high quality vinyl. As I truly love both versions almost equally much I have decided to review them as a unit as I really like to listen to them back-to-back due to the short length of them both (about 35-40 minutes each). The reason this is listed as #1 despite the two previous releases I posted today were listed as no.4 and no.3, is because I have decided to share the number one spot of 2013 between this and another release, which I'm going to present tomorrow. 

Which one is better between "12 Reasons" and "The Brown Tape" depends on my mood for the day, usually I'm leaning slightly towards the original Adrian Younge mix, but one thing's for sure - both versions are very close to flawless. They also make for a very interesting comparision as the musical landscapes are built on two opposite premises - Younge's orchestration is completely free from samples, while Apollo Brown's mix is created around nothing but samples. Yet they both capture what is in a sense a somewhat similiar vibe around Ghostface Killah's cinematic murder and revenge story. Younge has stated that his main inspiration for the album was the early soundtracks by Ennio Marricone and the early production work of The RZA. Both influences are clearly evident throughout; spaghetti western style guitars and stand-off type of music in a hip-hop tapping, Rhodes, keyboards and deep bass grooves being key sounds throughout the LP. Despite the substantial influences, there's no question that Younge has established a sound of his own and with projects like this, Venice Dawn and The Delphonics, there's no question that he's one of the more interesting producers around in this day and age. Every beat is so richly orchestrated, with a superb knack for filtering the sounds of live instrumentation to sound like crispy samples which brings a distinct hip-hop flavor where many working with live musicians have failed. Apollo Brown goes all out with the samples, often including vinyl pops and hissing, creating an album that sounds like it could've been a soundtrack to a grimey '70s blaxploatation flick which fits Ghost's revenge concept absolutely perfectly. Despite being a remix album, I honestly feel that this might very well be the finest set of tunes the Detroit producer has churned out yet as it's extremely cohessive, very layered and truly headbang material.

Then of course there's the masked avenger himself, who shines bright as ever here. Often quoted as one of the absolute finest storytellers in all of music, it's a great treat to finally hear him do a concept album like this. From beginning to end there's a real Ghost Rider meets The Godfather vibe cleverly being told, never straying from the topic; especially with The RZA doing a few narrative interludes to clear up any parts of the story that might be a little muddy. Simply put the story is set in the 1960's Italy, where Tony Starks, a black gangster gets involved with the DeLucas family. But after starting to sell drugs on the side without his bosses knowing the bosses decide to set him up and kill him. Their mistake, and a very cool plot line, is that they throw Starks body in boiling vinyl, pressing up 12 records featuring his remains. What they don't expect is that playing these records will bring back Ghost in the spirit, and he's very revenge hungry and you can be sure he gets his revenge... And it's bloody as hell! 

Having RZA involved in the project as the main executive producer also does wonders for Ghostface recording voice. As you might noticed he doesn't sound as high-pitched like on every album from "The Pretty Toney" album onward. The reason for this, as revealed in early interviews with RZA and Ghost, is that  the former always used to slightly pitch down GFK's voice a couple of notches; and it definitely sounds better (just like on "Ironman" and "Supreme Clientele")! There's a lot of little things like that which really make this feel like one of the old school Wu-Tang projects, and although there's no cameo by Raekwon, there's plenty of times where fellow W-representatives like Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, Killa Sin, U-God, Cappadonna and narrator RZA pops up... And they all add to their story in their own way, making the story extremely cohessive throughout. Just check the unbelivably ill posse cut "Murder Spree", which features all of the aforementioned artists (aside from RZA and Cappa) painting a violent picture of the risen Ghostface Killah and crew's revenge on the  DeLucas family. Apollo Brown juxtaposes this brutality against a relatively sweet and soulful track filled with high-pitched female vocals which  creates a wonderful counterpoint to its grimness, while Younge chooses to place the vocals over a more agressive beat from start. 

I've been a Wu-Tang fan since  I was a kid, and I've followed their careers obssesively, and though they continue to (often) drop quality releases, it's been many years since I got that extreme feeling of musical pleasure that I received from "Twelve Reasons to Die" / "The Brown Tape". Whichever version you listen to, everything just connects, the musical aspects are just perfection, Ghostface proves once again why he is one of the most reverred characters in the industry, the cameos are carefully selected and does a great job, and so on. It is clear that everyone involved were extremely involved and cared for the project to be the best it possibly could... And in that they succeded! On top of that there's a lot of cool extra material like a Marvel illustrator's comic book, that's a fantastic read while you're listening to the album.