CD Reviews

Ice Cube
Laugh Now, Cry Later
Lench Mob/ EMI/2006
♥♥♥  ½

Navin Bahl, Staff

Don’t call it a comeback. Actually, call it a comeback. Ice Cube makes the transition from babysitting comic in Are We There Yet? to a rapper with an attitude reminiscent of his projects in the early nineties with ease. Whether playing Doughboy in John Singleton’s Boyz in the Hood or recording classics like “The Predator,” “Lethal Injection” or “Death Certificate,” Cube, born O’Shea Jackson, always had a thug persona. This time around, Cube’s cadence is his strongest weapon.

Even though mainstream producers Scott Storch, Swizz Beatz, and Lil’ Jon lend their soundscapes for at least one song each, it is the filler songs that make this album bounce. Despite the clichéd production and obvious singles, the retrospective songs like “Growin’ Up” and title track, “Laugh Now, Cry Later,” show the signs of a seasoned vet on the microphone.

As for the requisite guest appearances, Mack 10 is missing in action, but WC appears on “Chrome & Paint” and the Kokane-assisted funky “Spittin’ Pollaseeds.” Snoop Dogg joins Lil’ Jon and Cube on the radio-friendly “Go to Church” but creates a better duet with Cube on the superb “You Gotta Lotta That.”

Acting career aside, Cube has released a gangster rap album that still sticks to his West Coast khakis and chucks stance and delivers brash but justified political commentary. Cube released Laugh Now, Cry Later independently on his new label, Lench Mob Records.

Fatboy Slim
The Greatest Hits – Why Try Harder
Astralwerks/2006
♥♥♥

Navin Bahl, Staff

Who can forget Fat Boy Slim’s masterful videos? His music sets the scene for three-to five-minute videos that can make anyone with a beat move. No one can deny the memorable samples and rhythms of “The Rockafeller Skank” or “Praise You.” Even the stiffest man in Hollywood, Christopher Walken, danced on ceilings to “Weapon of Choice.”

Why Try Harder is Fat Boy Slim’s finest work after four albums. On this greatest hits compilation, Fat Boy Slim gathers his 16 commercially- released singles and includes two rare remixes by Groove Armada and Cornershop, both from one of his five mix albums. Unless you are already in a dance club ready to wild out to fast-paced electronic dance music, the DVD of the same collection is probably more entertaining. Since the majority of songs repeat catchy samples, fluctuate drum patterns and vary the orchestration in place of words, lyrics or plain vocals, the songs do tend to get repetitive.

On the other hand, when there are recorded vocals by guests Macy Gray and emcee Lateef the Truthspeaker, on “Demons” and on “That Old pair of Jeans” and “Wonderful Night” respectively, Fat Boy Slim architects well-composed songs. “Right Here, Right Now” is another electronic track that will stand the test of time. Even though electronic music is one of the newer genres, there are already pioneers and legends among us.

Scott Walker
The Drift
4AD/ 2006
♥♥♥♥ ½

Evan Johnson, Staff

Some artists, impudent and promiscuous as they are, release an album every few years, or God forbid, every single year (I’m looking at you, Sufjan), so sometimes it’s nice to hear an album by someone who takes his time (12 years) to think about things before getting down to business. In this case, that someone is Scott Walker, who released four brilliant albums of dark and bombastic pop in the late sixties before deciding to abandon his teen-idol leanings altogether and trudge across the remaining years of the century as an enigmatic recluse, depositing, once per decade, increasingly dark and impenetrable albums.

Our decade’s time has come, lucky us, so now we have The Drift, an album of dense, shifting darkness. Though it’s often frightening and genuinely unpleasant, it’s also completely compelling in every sense: the orchestration is unhinged and bizarre, the sense of atmosphere is, quite often, deeply unsettling, and the instrumentation is varied enough to include the flogging of animal carcasses. The lyrics are oblique but potent, dealing as they do with a variety of unpleasant subjects, from the death of Claretta Petacci, Mussolini’s mistress, to a post-9/11 Elvis Presley seeking consolation from his stillborn twin brother, Jesse. Walker’s voice is equally incredible, totally grotesque though it is. Yes, it’s all rather absurd. Highly recommended for those seeking something different, just don’t expect anything remotely catchy.