Robert Christgau's Music Criticism Blog - Expert Witness - MSN Music

Odds and Ends 003

Ain't No Party Like an Alt-Rap Party 'Cause an Alt-Rap Party's So Unfashionable

By Xgau Jan 6, 2012 5:21AM


Canibus: C of Tranquility (iM)

He talks too much about how good he is only because nobody else will‑-and he is, damn it, he is ("Pine Comb Poem," "Golden Terra of Rap") ***


Scroobius Pip: Distraction Pieces (Strange Famous)

MCs all secretly believe they can do it on their own, but even the smart ones are a little too full of their own words ("Let 'Em Come," "Try Dying") ***

 

Del the Funky Homosapien: Golden Era (The Council)

For three highly listenable CDs‑-incorporating the previously download-only Automatik Statik and Funk Man‑-impeccable rapper's electro beats don't stop and only occasionally rise above ("Calculate," "Dzl Funk," "Fit  Like a Glove") ***

 

Murs: Love and Rockets Vol 1: The Transformation (DD172/Bluroc)

Quality alt-rapper tells the world how solid his career is with essential beats from solid careerist Ski Beatz, goes out on uncommonly anti-homophobic finale ("Animal Style," "316 Ways") **


Open Mike Eagle: Unapologetic Art Rap (Mush)

"Ain't no party like an art rap party 'cause an art rap party's so smart" ("Helicopter," "Mole in Your Ministry," "WTF Is Art Rap?") **

 

Awol One & Factor: The Landmark (Fake Four)

Depressive emo-rapper seeks help‑-good for him ("Daze Go By," "Don't Be Afraid") **


Lupe Fiasco: Lasers (Atlantic)

Catchier when he's articulating his ill-informed politics than when he's making nice to the big bad record company he doesn't actually defy, now does he? ("All Black Everything," "Words I Never Said") *


Pharoahe Monch: W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) (W.A.R. Media/Duck Down Music Inc.)

"Our revolutionaries want Grammys and Oscars/Making a mockery of the music to be pop stars," so this revolutionary makes a sermon of it instead, which doesn't work either until Jean Grae adds her mojo ("Assassins," "Haile Selassie Karate") *



 

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161Comments
Richard Cobeen
Jan 9, 2012 2:31PM
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Mark, most of what I've seen states that the Castro will continue to show movies.  It seems just like a rumor at this point.  Let's hope so. Some of my greatest movie experiences were at the Castro.
Ryan Maffei
Jan 9, 2012 2:24PM
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Later, a friend and I saw it at the Film Forum with an audience. It was as though the film was brought to life through the communal experience; it was so funny, witty, playful and obviously, filmically brilliant.  
This perfectly describes the time I saw Gone With the Wind in theatres when they rereleased it in the late 90s. I hadn't seen it before but my experience with most pre-New Hollywood films was similar to most precocious kids' -- I sat in reverence trying to conjure up respect but could never get past that stagy sterility that seems to unify a big chunk of Hollywood history. Older movies never felt human enough, and I was concerned about enjoying Wind considering running time and white elephant status. It amazes me how much I remember the audience laughing. There was nothing in the way of total emotional access to everything that was going on. The environment, the sense of digesting a movie under comradely circumstances, had instigated a tangible shift in the viewing process.

The only time I got somebody to watch Pierrot le Fou (high up on my personal top ten list) with me, my good friend, a mormon missionary who'd spent time in the West Indies and spoke fluent French, seemed to enjoy it on levels I simply couldn't access, which bothered me even if I still adored it.
Marcus2010
Jan 9, 2012 2:07PM
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There is no sense of audience, and yet an important factor in learning to be literate about movies is to be part of an audience that is sophisticated about them.

 

I rented Godard's Pierrot le Fou and watched it home alone. I liked or at least appreciated the film. Later, a friend and I saw it at the Film Forum with an audience. It was as though the film was brought to life through the communal experience; it was so funny, witty, playful and obviously, filmically brilliant. Easily one of my most memorable movie-going experiences.

Not. Milo. Miles.
Jan 9, 2012 1:29PM
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Jason Gubbels is correct -- I was paraphrasing Ebert, of course. A fuller, better context is this:

After mentioning the downfall of college film societies, he writes: "Today, students rent videos, stream them online, or watch them on TV, and even if they watch a great movie, they do it alone or with a few friends. There is no sense of audience, and yet an important factor in learning to be literate about movies is to be part of an audience that is sophisticated about them. On the other hand, today every medium-sized city has a film festival ..."

And I've not worked out all the details in my head, but the ever-ongoing fragmentation of the "massive hit record" audience has to be a somewhat parallel phenomenon.

Mark Rosen (MuercoR)
Jan 9, 2012 1:20PM
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To chime into the comments on Ebert's book, I wish I could agree that there was some sort of communal rep-house or art-house vitality left in good old cinemagoing, but when I heard recently that San Francisco's gorgeous and important Castro Theatre would no longer show movies at all, it seems like we're nearing the end of it. On the plus side, the article in yesterday's Times did a good job outlining how Sundance orphans now have a digital life through a variety of streaming services, and that many of those films had no theatrical release at all and their makers are quite happy with this result.

I should note that I grew up in LA, which may still be the best moviegoing city on the planet (sorry Paris and Tel Aviv)--beautiful old movie palaces in decent restoration, LACMA and various preservation societies and the Academy regularly hosting screenings, amped-up (too much, often) crowds. But here in middle America where I now live, going to a movie (even an art movie) means going to a recently constructed multiplex with all of the commercial encroachments you'd expect. Even our arthouse (the Angelika) with its five screens rarely shows even a single film in a foreign language. And there is no rep-house circuit at all.

Jason Gubbels
Jan 9, 2012 1:12PM
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Tiny quibble (with Ebert): the trope that "movie-going is no longer part of a community activity." To a certain degree this is true,But this observation also discounts the fact that many families and friends love to watch movies together. 
Bradley, I get what you're saying, and I agree. But the notion that families or spouses or even close friends represent "the community" or the public at large seems questionable. One thing going to the movies always entailed was entering a specific space with a large group of strangers. Completely solitary movie-watching is different, obviously. But so is watching with your spouse and only your spouse. I guess I'd argue the breakdown isn't between community and solitude, but public and private. That might be the larger trend Ebert's noting.
Bradley Sroka
Jan 9, 2012 12:55PM
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That's a very thoughtful post (Not) Milo; thanks! Tiny quibble (with Ebert): the trope that "movie-going is no longer part of a community activity." To a certain degree this is true, though theaters still make a ton of money and pack houses on the weekends. But this observation also discounts the fact that many families and friends love to watch movies together. In fact, I rarely if ever watch television or movies by myself; I nearly always watch with my wife. It's not the same dynamic as going to a theater, but it's also different than watching something in isolation. Which is what I believe comments like Ebert's assume: that movie-watching is now a private rather than public activity. I honestly don't think it splits that cleanly.
Not. Milo. Miles.
Jan 9, 2012 12:19PM
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Reading Roger Ebert's memoir, Life Itself, and am struck by how he has a fair-minded assessment of media, arts, journalism, change, losses and gains. (Also a good line about perspective: "One of the rewards of growing old is that you can truthfully say you lived in the past.")

Black-and-white films have the great advantage of announcing and reminding you that you are in a special non-reality (not totally unlike the way the movie plays in your head as you read a story). Sound, especially music, improves films, but dialog has gotten flatter and flatter, ever more merely functional. "Home video is both the best thing and the worst thing that has happened on the movie beat" in that you can see what and when you want, no matter where you live and yet movie-going is no longer part of a community activity. And there never can be a jolt like when Belle de Jour cropped up without warning for two nights at our little local Montana cinema in the late '60s. On the other side, I could now show any kid in town there what the movie was.

And it seems like the plus and minus calculations are not dissimilar for popular music.
Anderson PM
Jan 9, 2012 11:30AM
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can you guess them?
Leonard Cohen and Ringo.
Greg Teta
Jan 9, 2012 10:49AM
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Your time would be better spent listening to a mature soprano
JeffC77
Jan 9, 2012 10:34AM
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Random observation after a weekend spent catching up on Childish Gambino: Donald Glover would be a pretty deep guy (maybe even deeper than Kanye) if he didn't also feel the need to brag every other verse about all the pussy he's getting...
Greg Teta
Jan 9, 2012 10:06AM
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Hard to fathom a best directors list without John Ford on it-I'm sure David Lynch would

be the first to agree.

Alex Wilson (Japadsfdf)
Jan 9, 2012 2:35AM
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Continuing on from the game talk, I recently bought RAGE. It's, basically, a run-off from Fallout 3--though, not as good. (I gave Fallout 3 an A, and I'd, probably, give RAGE an A minus.) RAGE doesn't give you much of a backstory; it just throws you into the action, and expects you to understand an apocalypse plot. Still, not a bad game--not a top ten, though.
CHRIS DRUMM (cdrummbks)
Jan 8, 2012 9:52PM
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He told the story here, but if anyone is puzzled, Elvis is Cam's biological father (obviously he's done the DNA by now). Speaking of Cam, he couldn't resist posting his rich 2011 top ten (and more) on Facebook. I'm listening to Alabama Shakes EP right now (and Jimmy Cliff's earlier) thanks to it.
Semi Mike (ShadyShack)
Jan 8, 2012 9:47PM
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Dad would have been 77.

Ha! Does that make David Jones the rebellious nephew twice removed on his Mama's side?


Some interesting releases coming up in the next couple of months.

Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Ringo, Of Montreal, Van Halen. Ok, only two of those  am I really looking forward to, can you guess them?

Cam Patterson
Jan 8, 2012 8:49PM
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C'mon folks, for Christ's sake, it's Elvis's birthday too. Dad would have been 77.
Joey Daniewicz
Jan 8, 2012 7:47PM
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Raul: Yes.

Jacob: I'm going to call her Blue-Z.
Raul Roque
Jan 8, 2012 7:34PM
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For anyone who hasn't heard Jay-Z and Beyonce (One of the cutest couples in music! :)) had a baby girl today. Her name is Blue Ivy Carter.

The same day Bowie completes 65 years old.

It's all over the Guardian, where I was reading Petridis article about it.

Talking about UK, has anyone into Lana Del Rey? I'm not, but I became interested after I saw her "Video Game" song was choose the best one of 2011 by the Guardian critics. Also, it's the second picked by readers. Maybe she's the new Adele. The approaches are similars. I only hope she is not as fake as her big lips, althought looks like she was "made" in YouTube. Pretty much a caricature yet, for me. I think I will never understand why plain aesthetics are more worth than plain sincerity, in practice. Maybe it's simply utopia. "I wanna live like, beautiful people," rang me a bell.
Raul Roque
Jan 8, 2012 6:22PM
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Hi Joey!

Did you receive my ballot?

I think it's the first time a remix is my favorite music of the year. I almost put also Shingo Nakamura's "Sapporo," which is good too. Another artist I discovered looking up Beatport some months ago. In the albums section, TV On The Radio continue to conquer my heart and ears 'till today.
Raul Roque
Jan 8, 2012 6:06PM
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Ah, bummer. But that's one game that deserves several play throughs, so hang in there.
Really sad, Chris. I tried to recover it, but with no success. Shepard was arriving in Citadel after one of the most creepiest moments in a game saving David in the Project Overlord, alongside with Miranda and Jack (I think I'm not the only one who likes to see both together - I only regret not to carry Miranda with Jack in the Cerberus facility she was raised, just to see how the conversation could change) and, after I bought some upgrades on a local shop, the autosave began just when the energy blinked. So it went away, in seconds. But it's an incredible game, for sure I'll play it from the beginning some day - it wasn't all bad in the end, I didn't play Mass Effect 1, so I think it's about time though.

Miranda is also one of the most beautiful and appealing characters I have ever seem - more than Maryl from MGS, Madison Paige from Heavy Rain or even Lara Croft. Maybe it's because she's mysterious and subtly provocative - not to say she looks like Belladonna, too. The plot of the game is also amazing, full of details everywhere. The narrative genuinely professional. I even searched about Gilbert & Sullivan after Mordin sang comically a song by them.

This game is up together with MGS series, for me.
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about the blogger

Robert Christgau

Starting in 1967, Robert Christgau has covered popular music for The Village Voice, Esquire, Blender, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He teaches in New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, maintains a comprehensive website at robertchristgau.com, and has published five books based on his journalism. He has written for MSN Music since 2006.

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