CD Reviews

by Andrew Matson and Courtney Harding & r & Jurassic 5 & lt;a href= & quot;http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=rQy1MLe70wI & amp;offerid=78941 & amp;type=3 & amp;subid=0 & amp;tmpid=1826 & amp;RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewAlbum%253Fi%253D167407360%2526id%253D167407358%2526s%253D143441%2526partnerId%253D30 & quot; & Feedback & lt;/a & 1.5 STARS & lt;/a & To a young kid totally disconnected from hip-hop's birth and early childhood, Jurassic 5's album Quality Control was a revelation. But in using Jurassic 5 to explore early hip-hop (say, everything pre-NWA), it quickly becomes apparent that when measured against their influences (Run DMC, Cold Crush, LL, et al.), J5's shtick was just that.


So it just strikes me as silly when Akil raps, straight-faced, "I refuse to bust gats and water down my raps / To get me caught in the trap and set me years back," on Feedback's "Where We At" -- especially for a crew who, as a matter of aesthetics, has set itself years back and stubbornly refused to budge stylistically. As for watering down raps, Akil -- buddy, let's be honest with ourselves. (This goes for all of you -- with the exception, on good days, of Chali 2na.) You can't get much more watered-down than the pure artesian spring of hokey good vibes and positivity you already spit. Given that, a little grit would be appreciated. -- Luke Baumgarten & r & Check Out: " Work It Out," featuring the Dave Matthews Band(OMG!)





& lt;a href= & quot;http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=rQy1MLe70wI & amp;offerid=78941 & amp;type=3 & amp;subid=0 & amp;tmpid=1826 & amp;RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewArtist%253Fid%253D118412250%2526partnerId%253D30 & quot; & Georgia Ann Muldrow & lt;/a & Olesi: Fragments of an Earth 3 STARS & r & On the heels of her Worthnothings EP, Stones Throw's only female representative unleashes her first full-length LP in the form of the sprawling, 21-track Olesi. The meaningless neo-soul genre tag will be applied by many, but Ms. Muldrow is entirely too complicated, too talented, too much for any box to hold. At just 22, she produces, programs, plays, and sings every splat of color on this Jackson Pollack of an album. It's the messiest, most unseemly, ambitious thing to hit record store shelves in quite some time.


Olesi doesn't have songs, it has suites, and Muldrow loads each with an overpowering desire to communicate. The spirit that runs throughout is equal parts Ornette Coleman and J.Dilla, and Muldrow has no qualms about letting all her influences bleed all over each other. The opener, "New Orleans," is a horrifying trudge knee-deep in Katrina's toxic afterbirth. From the outset, Georgia Anne Muldrow establishes herself as a banshee. -- Andrew Matson & r & Check Out: "West Coast Recycler"