So I skipped reading the reviews, gave it an MP3 test drive on shitty sound-equipment and decided it was interesting enough to buy it and give it another spin under more decent conditions. Additionally, good artwork on a big piece of cardboard always draws me towards a purchase. So here we have it:
This, as usual from Warp, is pretty nicely done, with the entire jacket printed on matt cardboard (pretty standard grammage, glossy black inside) with several stages of cell division (or at least some similar process, showing different stages of complexity) depicted on the labels to guide you from side one to four.
The previously described before (i.e. MP3) -after (i.e. the vinyl) listening experience made the difference for me:
Maybe I’m just a deluded fool, aimlessly fallen for the old ‘Vinyl sounds Best!’-Mantra, but MAN DOES THAT THING SHINE IN ANALOG!
So, having skipped the reviews I know next to nothing about that guy. Taking the title into consideration, I’m inclined to believe that he’s neither a Sufi, nor a Killer. (Clearly disregarding the concept of metaphor, just for fun. And yes, I know that Lee Perry ain’t no Super Ape.)
Anyways, this album’s a really glorious romp through the gutter of some really warped subconscious. Yet, despite early expectations of sth. much akin to Hip Hop, I was rather reminded of Ween‘s more low-fiish, claustrophobic moments on epic works like ‘The Pod’ being boosted into dripping Technicolor (e.g. ‘SuzieQ’. ‘Stardustin’). Additionally the incorporation of exotic/eastern/oriental (and do I hate myself for such superficial categorization?) works much more seamless than on, say, Mos Def‘s latest offering, which while being a pretty solid album, was imho mostly dubbed a ‘return to form’ because his two previous albums were among the biggest-piles-of-shit-from-an-artist-I-deeply respect that I have had the pleasure to listen to in recent years.
And just as some sort of random association w/r/t the Sufi’s vocal-stylings: Had Devendra Banhart looked into the possibility of doing stuff like this (e.g. ‘She Gone’), the world would have had one less mediocre album to deal with.
So, uhm, digression’s complete again: Give it a spin!
Recommended further listening:
Ween/’The Pod’
The Congos/’Heart Of The Congos’
(My prediction w/r/t The Congos: Never, in any genre, will anyone surpass the deep boggy blackness of this goddamn masterpiece.)
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings / I Learned The Hard Way
(It might slowly dawn on you, that the only reason I started this post was to make one of those ultra-nerdy YouTube-Videos of a tuntable turning and playing a song, which are strangely useless and all over that place. At least now I’m once again unpleasantly reminded of the fact that my room lacks adequate damping.)
The execution’s flawless throughout, but as hinted at before, while the decision to play in a ‘classic style’ (i.e. in this case 60s/70s, Funk, Soul, Motown, Stax, &c.), opens up the opportunity of effectively summarizing that style’s essence (if you have a vague notion of what that essence, beyond its most obvious markers, which simply are quotes, is) moving beyond that job of rearrangement might be good advice. Meanwhile, i’m guessing that these tunes will probably be absolutely delightful in concert, an environment in which, as your humble reporter was blessed to witness, this group totally fucking excels.
Btw: Daptone Records always uses those nice and sturdy cardboard jackets for their Longplayers. Always a selling point. As y’all probably might have realized in the meantime, I love thick cardboard.
Recommended further listening:
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings/’Naturally’
Otis Redding/’The Dock Of The Bay’
Frederick Knight/’I've Been Lonely For So Long’
(Mainly because it a) simply isn’t mentioned enough and b) its cover features the most bizarre patchwork-jacket I’ve ever seen.)