Stereo MC's [Double Bubble]

I played this just over a year ago [25th February 2011], and marvelled then at how 'different' this album sounded, it was new territory for me, and yet at the same time i was really excited that i was opening up a new Pandora's box of strange sounds, that i was sure i would fall in love with, well one year on i can say this album has taken on some new deeper appreciation, some of the tracks which i liked a lot the first time around, i'm now beginning to love, especially the early tracks on disc one, and the music?, well it's hard to pigeonhole, there's certainly a sense of Rap Music in there, but they're very electronically dancey too, who cares about definitions, if it's great music it's great!.

The Stereo MC's are an English Band, formed in 1985, they started out more in the Britpop explosion, but i guess they're more like The Beastie Boys, or The Prodigy, this is like one and a half discs long, the bonus disc is less than 20 minutes, in fact both discs could have fitted on a single disc, so why the double album?, the album came out in 2008, the front cover is truly excellent, a simple set of rings, but subtly coloured to give the impression of 3D, also they have a tendency to feel that they're spinning!, a great simple idea, i like shapes.

Well the tracks i liked the best are 1, 3-4 & 11, last time i felt that track 11 'Human' was the track that caught my attention the most, on this listen i guess it's the opener 'Get On It', nice intro, giving off a nice beat, but it's when the vocals come in [0:16+] that it just blossoms out into something more atmospheric, and the keyboard synths bubble and scream, now that's a lovely slamming vibe!, the chorus goes 'get on it, get off it...', those keyboard synths, now they're infectious, after the third chorus the recording controls are pushed into overdrive [2:17-2:28], with a great big 'wooooo' at the end of it, and then a moment of magic as a real hard slamming echo beat follows [2:28-2:42], with a nice tribal drumming beat, at the end there's a fade-out with 'flarnham calling' [that's what it sounds like], while a jangly telephone bell rings [3:29+], the whole thing is fantastic!, and it's only one of many on the album, i need to check out some more Stereo MC's albums.

Here's the Stereo MC's playing 'Get On It' on YouTube.

Various Artists [Boom Selection 'The Essential Urban Soundtrack']

Now here's something really different from the usual in my Blog, some nice R n B / Hip Hop / Rap, yes i admit that there's a fair bit of these two discs that didn't hit the spot with me, but... i so much believe in delving into every genre of music, that i force myself to listen to even the fringes of my musical loves, there's great music everywhere in every genre of music if you so open your ears and crumble down the walls of prejudice, that's what i'm trying to do, to get away from becoming ever deeper entrenched in Classical music as an entity with the exclusion of all else, music is best listened to with the cross fertilization of all its genres. 

I once referred to Rap music as CRap music!, hahaha, well it's still not really my thing, and yet, someone who's creative, and has good music for the lyrics, can still amazingly make it work, yes there's a lot of crap Rap music out there, but don't discard it all, there's actually some gems lurking, this compilation was released in 2002, the front cover caught my eye [photo by Phil Silcock], a picture of a guy facing away from the camera, headphones over the ears, and that shaved head at the back, all couched in a blue tinge, and the gold lettering over the top, it really is a good visual product. 

Most of the tracks didn't do much for me, but even here i notice that a number have possibilities, and with some more listening they could really catch on, here's where i'm excited by music, the breaking down of hard fixed ideas, and realizing after all this time i've probably been wrong, it's like hating foreign food, but then one day you eat something, and suddenly your exploring Indian and Chinese etc, the three tracks that i really thought were excellent were 5-6 & 25, and here's a short synopsis of each of them,
5 Tweet - Oops Oh My, 
6 Missy Elliott - 4 My People, 
25 Mary J Blige - Family Affair, 

Stereo MC's [Double Bubble] 

Well here's something different from the usual Classical music, i saw this on auction on Ebay, i was drawn to the stark colourful circles on the front cover, they seem to spin, it's a lovely simple idea, circles of red, green, blue, and yellow mix, with a yellow / mustard square box for the band name and album title, i got this brand new on Ebay for cheap, still in its cellophane, turns out to be an inspired purchase.

The Stereo MC's are an English Indie / Electronic Dance / Hip Hop band formed in 1985, it's somewhat hard to pigeonhole them, maybe they're more like the Stone Roses / The Shamen towards their Indie side, and the Fun Lovin Criminals / The Beastie Boys in their Hip Hop / Rap side, whatever, they're great.

However good the artwork is, it's the music i was gobsmacked by, i have never really listened to them before, so i wasn't sure what to expect, they are afforded a tremendous recorded sound, every blip and thud, zing and buzz can be heard caressing / abusing your lug-holes, at certain moments they're an Electronic band, others times they get into Rap, but most of the time they straddle genres, i played this loud, and it has a great effect, if this album can get me this excited on one listen, then what will i be getting into 5 years down the road?, plus i feel that these discs have opened a portal to another world of music, now i've got my eye on a number of similar bands, i guess it's the Stereo MC's change of direction during songs that is so appealing, i tried to second guess where they were going with each song, most of the time i was wrong, but they sound so right, some delicious G-forces abound the musical spectrum here.

The tracks i liked the most were 1, 4 & 11 on disc one, the organ like squealing synthesizer keyboard on track 1 'Get It On' is so inspired, and the zany bumbling double beat on track 4 'City Lights' is mesmerizing, but deep down it's track 11 'Human' that blew me away, starts off with a nice gentle chugging beat, with some nice electronic noises, but quickly explodes into a strong tuneful chorus [0:27], and what sounds like an electronic harp, but more likely of course a keyboard sound, but i love this harp sound, it really makes the song, and the boom boom boom, boom boom boom drums to accompany it are perfect, some of the chorus lyrics go,

All our brassic, in my pocket

is turning into vapours

all their skint-ness is just thin air i guess, however, right at the end as everything closes down, it's this 'harp' that has the closing word, as it twangs / strums away [3:25+], slowing down into a little solo tune [3:49-3:58], a stroke of genius!, a nice way to end the album, except there's a secret track!.

Here's the Stereo MC's playing 'Human' on YouTube.