Album Reviews: Blakroc
»Album Reviews For Release Date: 12.01.09
by Joshua Krage
Loooots of Latin releases this week, so si te gusta tu musica en español, ieste es la semana ultima! However if you don’t, you’re pretty much out of luck, as the biggest competition is R. Kelly and The Bravery squaring off against… Alvin & the Chipmunks. My advice to these contenders is to hit ‘em in the nuts (zing!). At least the Black Keys came along with some of their top-shelf urban buddies for some ace collaboration, so the week isn’t a total loss. As for everyone else, well see for yourself:
Biz Markie – hits
Blakroc – surprise indie hybrid hit of the year. Everyone knew the Black Keys had the funky beat in ‘em, but we might not have guessed that beat would flow so well on these high-profile hip-hop collaborations with Jim Jones, Mos Def, RZA, Ludacris and more. Great verses abound, soulful hooks sung by newcomer Nicole Wray take a few tracks into R&B territory, and it’s all solidly anchored to Pat Carney’s thickfreak beats and embellished by Dan Auerbach’s tasty, rhythmic blues licks. It’s the best rock/rap collision since the Judgment Night soundtrack, and much more tasteful.
The Bravery
Enya – best of
Allison Iraheta
Juvenile
R Kelly
OST – Alvin & The Chipmunks: Squeakquel
OST – Up In the Air
The rest of the year is pretty much done music-wise, unless you count 30 Seconds to Mars (which I have to, or some of my friends will pelt me with full wine bottles), so next week we’ll wrap it all up for 2009 with a solid, well-considered (read: hastily-assembled) “best of” list before going on vacation until Valentine’s Day. See you then.
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