Geto Boys - Uncut Dope (CD, 1992)

I don't remember when I bought this, though I know it wasn't more than five bucks. That's about right, as this isn't a well-made or even very necessary compilation. I think it might have been an excuse to release "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta," as that and "Action Speaks Louder Than Words" are the only things I can figure to account for the "Bonus cuts stolen from upcoming album featuring Big Mike" exclamation on the front. Almost everything else on this disc is from either their eponymous album or We Can't Be Stopped, and the tracks are neither chronological or sequenced in any discernible way.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Geto Boys, and it's played out across this disc. I think "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" (incorrectly listed here as "My Mind Playin' Tricks on Me") is an incredible song. I think "Mind of a Lunatic" is a terrible song, for a countless amount of reasons. And so it goes with the rest of this record. I love half of it, and hate the other half.

Sometimes I feel like if I was an upstanding human I wouldn't listen to Geto Boys, but then I realize it's just one of the nutty contradictions that makes me me. And right now, I'm feeling embarrassed that I own a Geto Boys greatest hits collection.

Pretty lazy of me, but unfortunately, collecting the Geto Boys discography is not at the top of my list right now.

"Do It Like A G.O."

DJ Muggs vs. GZA/The Genius - Grandmasters (CD, 2005)

I wish I knew more of the back story behind this disc, though maybe it's nothing more than a couple of dudes deciding to do an album together. I purchased this within the last year, and though I'm not intricately familiar with it, I've been listening to it quite a bit lately.

And here's the thing: I like it, but I don't love it. When you see that two guys who are infamous aces at their crafts have decided to do a record together, you have to prepare yourself for precision. It's odd that this is exactly what this album lacks. GZA's verses, while filled with some lyrical gems, feel rushed and sometimes unfinished. As I've said before, he set the bar so high with his early material, that it becomes all too clear when he's not giving it his all. I'm not saying he's lazy on these songs, but they just don't fit as tightly together as some of his other work.

The same can be said for Muggs' production. The beats seem initially solid, but the majority are just short loops repeated ad infinitum. I always find myself waiting for the next section of the song (or even slight variances in the main beat), and it rarely comes.

Having said that, this record is far from bad. If it was from an unknown duo, I'd definitely be less harsh with my criticisms. The fact that it feels rushed is just, like I said, very incongruous with the rest of their work. (Although, in fairness, I haven't heard anything DJ Muggs has done since the mid-90's, so maybe this is his style now.) It's also strange considering this album has a loose chess thematic, which also feels only half-realized.

RZA and Raekwon show up on "Destruction of a Guard" and "Advance Pawns," which are both strong tracks. And Masta Killa and Prodigal Sunn both turn in strong verses on "Unstoppable Threats." "All In Together Now" might be my favorite track, featuring RZA and an uncredited chorus from ODB. So yeah, there's a lot to like here. There's just not a lot to love to the point of repeated listening.

"General Principles"

Genius/GZA - Beneath the Surface (CD, 1999)

The second round of Wu solo records all suffered from the same problem: not enough (or no) RZA. But, if anyone was going to pull it together on their own, the smart money would have to have been on the Genius.

Utilizing a mix of producers (RZA is only credited on one track, "1112"), GZA managed to put together a followup to Liquid Swords that was nothing to scoff at. Given what he had to live up to, there wasn't a chance he was going to outshine his previous effort. But he gave it a good run, and this ended up being a solid album. However, I do have beef with a few things on here, so let's get those out of the way first.

The only thing worse than the seemingly mandatory inclusion of skits on hip hop albums during this era was the move towards making them their own tracks on the album. The only thing worse than that was naming them "Skit #1," "Skit #2," etc. The only thing worse than that would be putting two of these lazily named skits right next to each other, like GZA does with tracks four and five on this disc. Never would we have thought he would succumb to such half-assed practices. The Wu always had their kung fu interludes on their records (and even other skit-type things), but they were always tacked onto the beginning or the end of the proper track.

So while there's 18 tracks on this CD, if you take out the four skits and the intro and outro (another unnecessary fad in hip hop), there's only twelve actual songs. (And by the way, if you have the technology, you should take out those six cuts, because they're all worthless.) I could go on forever about this overused and time-wasting practice. Wait till we get to Method Man's Tical 2000, ugh. Anyway.

The other thing that gets me riled about this disc has nothing to do with the music, and is another one of my top hip hop pet peeves. When you fold open the CD jacket, there's credits on one side, but all the other side says (across four panels, no less) is "GZA/Genius The Fourth Album December '99." Now, this record came out in the summer of '99. Holy shit, we'd only have to wait six months for another GZA record?! Nah, try three years. But thanks for the heads up! This was sooo common in hip hop for so long, and must have driven everyone crazy.

(Note to self: start a blog documenting ads inside of albums for albums that never came out. That would be awesome!)

Alright, so that's what I don't like about this record. Keep in mind, this all hurt doubly bad because it was coming from GZA, who was supposed to be the wise one of the group. (I could do a dissertation on the oh-how-the-mighty-have-fallen aspects of the Wu. I think we'd all like to forget this Inspectah Deck video.) But, like I said, don't load those skits and the embarrassing intro and outro into your iPod, and you've got yourself a strong set of songs.

I didn't really warm up to "Breaker, Breaker" at first, as it sort of felt like Liquid Swords Lite. The strings are there, but they're clean and peppy, not dusty and dark. I've learned to see it for what it is (the single) and get behind it. Killah Priest shows up on a handful of tracks, and brings it. Other Wu members get in on it as well, and as usual, Method Man proves that he is the best one-verse man in the history of rap. While the trademark Wu sound is absent, the flows are still there.

The standout tracks here are "Crash Your Crew" and "Feel Like An Enemy." Ol' Dirty Bastard's guest spot on the former is so drunkenly crazy that it couldn't have been done any better. Pressed up against GZA's meticulous flow, it makes for an oddly hypnotic track. "Feel Like An Enemy" has one of the most menacing beats I've ever heard, and dudes with raps just as menacing. Hell Razah and Killah Priest absolutely own it, and by the time Prodigal Sunn barrels through, you don't think it can get any better, but he slays shit. And then GZA...doesn't show up. Odd.

"Mic Trippin'" may be the only song on the record that really isn't good, but it's tucked away at the end, and it's not terrible. As with any Wu album, fans and obsessives could argue about this one for days. Underrated? Maybe. Depends what you're looking for.

Also: My brother and I saw GZA on this tour and it was probably the best hip hop show I've ever seen. So there's that.

"Breaker, Breaker"

Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords (CD, 1995)

Did somebody yell "Wu-Tang!"?

So, I guess we covered a few of the Cappadonna solo records, but I think this is the first album by one of the "original" members of the Clan that I've gotten to so far. Cappa's joints were a nice place to warm up, and this is a great one to dive into proper. Everyone's got their favorite Wu-Tang solo-dolo records, and I'm never surprised when somebody tells me this is the one that tops their list. I wouldn't call it my favorite (I'll leave you guessing as to which one holds my top spot until we get to it), but I can't argue with anyone who says this is as good as it got.

1995 was a huge year for the Wu solo albums, with Ol' Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, and GZA all releasing records. (Technically, this is GZA's sophomore release, following the pre-Clan Words from the Genius.) It seemed they could do no wrong. Method Man's Tical had started the train towards the end of '94, and though some people (including Meth himself) felt it wasn't a strong record, they were wrong. ODB and Raekwon's releases fanned the flames, delivering songs that seemed untouchable. Each record, while holding true to the Clan mentality, had its own distinct feel and approach, and everybody knew GZA's wouldn't be any different. And on some level, we all knew it was going to be deep. But I'm not sure if anyone thought it was going to be this deep.

If you've never understood why people are/were fanatical about the Wu-Tang Clan, then you've probably never really listened to this album. This was something different, something that was smarter, cooler, and just plain better than anything being released by anyone not affiliated with the Wu. Meth was about stoned hijinks and loose wordplay, ODB was just fucking nuts, and Raekwon was playing Tony Montana like no one had before. GZA cut through it all with a brand of sobering precision that made everyone take a step back, strap the headphones on, and study the shit out of it. I still wonder how many rappers simply gave up after hearing the opening cut on this album. They must have known it was over.

While this is, like all the other early Clan solo records, a Wu-Tang collaborative effort, RZA and GZA are clearly at the reigns. GZA doesn't seem to have a faulty lyric on the whole damn thing, and it makes his fellow Wu member step their game up as well. And there's something about the staccato strings and slow bubbling beats on this that just wouldn't have worked as well on any of the other Clan member's records. This is the brilliance of the RZA. This is why people like myself became obsessed with this group. We couldn't believe that these guys had all found each other and they were this good.

I've only seen music truly change a few times in my life, and in the mid-90's, the Wu-Tang Clan changed hip hop. This record is one of the biggest reasons why. It added balance to the group dynamic, and proved that the Genius not only lived up to his name, but was, like they say, on some "other level" shit.

It's almost 15 years later and people are still deciphering the wordplay on this album, and it still sounds as good as it did in '95. Oh, I could talk about the glory days of the Wu-Tang Clan forever.

"I Gotcha Back"

G-Unit - Beg for Mercy (2xLP, 2003)

I bought this CD while still fully embroiled in my admiration of 50 Cent, and although I really didn't care for the rest of the G-Unit crew (still don't), I ended up really liking this record (still do). There is still a part of me, though it doesn't show itself nearly as frequently as I grow older, that has a hard time resisting some well-made gangsta rap. It's the same reason I liked 50 Cent's first record so much, and it's the same reason I like this one.

Honestly, I think I was just shocked that this album was any good at all. It followed pretty closely on the tail of Get Rich or Die Tryin', and I wasn't going to be surprised if Fiddy had already blown his load the first time around. Turns out he hadn't, and this record, while a bit different than his debut, made for a solid showing and accomplished his goal of introducing the other G-Unit dudes to the world. I've learned to tolerate Lloyd Banks and Young Buck, but I still can't stand Tony Yayo. So, his incarceration during the recording of this record worked out well for me: he's only on two songs.

This is a deep record, spanning 18 songs over almost 70 minutes, with (thankfully) no skits. So yeah, there are a few clunkers towards the end, but the good manages to outweigh the bad. And when I say "good," I have to refer back to my need-for-gangsta-rap statement. This allows me to overlook track titles like "Gangsta Shit," "I'm So Hood," "Betta Ask Somebody," and the handful of other generic names that get reprise on this disc. I'm not looking to G-Unit for originality. I'm looking to them for solid beats under lyrics about killing you in front of your family. And they deliver that in spades.

Full disclosure: this is my go-to album on my iPod when I lift weights at the gym. Feel free to think less of me for that.

"Poppin' Them Thangs"

I Went to a Show: The Von Bondies at Doug Fir (March 9, 2009)

I guess I would consider The Von Bondies one of my guilty pleasures, but I've never been sure why I'm compelled to feel guilty about it. Maybe because they were a much-hyped band about five years ago, and it was then that I really got into to their major label debut, Pawn Shoppe Heart. They had been dubbed a Cool New Band, and I couldn't resist their charms. So maybe that's why I was reticent to admit my affections for these media darlings. I never cared for any of the other bands they were continually lumped in with (The Hives, The White Stripes, The Vines–all that "garage rock revival" bullshit), so I knew I wasn't drifting towards a bad place. I just really dug this one band.

The first time I heard "C'mon C'mon," I was driving home by myself in the middle of the night, and in a rare move, I had the radio on, tuned to the local "alternative rock" station. This has to be the only time in the last decade that I heard a song on the radio and actually wanted to know what it was. The fact that it was playing at four in the morning made me more hopeful that it was something promising, like it wasn't clicking with the daytime crowd and had been relegated to the edgier "after-hours" shows (yes, I'll cling to anything to avoid admitting that I like something popular, apparently). There was no DJ at that time of night, so I had to try and remember some lyrics to Google upon arriving at home. Turns out "Things were good when we were young" didn't really narrow things down too quickly, so I was quickly stalled.

I don't remember how I finally figured out it was the Von Bondies, but I did, and I picked up the record post-haste. Thankfully, the rest of the record was almost as good as that near-perfect single. I've listened to it a lot over the past five years, but never made a point to really keep up with the band, and didn't hear anything. While looking up a different show at the Doug Fir a few months back, I noticed they were coming to town. Then they showed up on Letterman a few weeks ago, with a few new members and a nice new song. I came across their new LP last week, picked it up, liked it, and decided to go to the show.

So, yeah, I did. And it was great. MySpace whores Nico Vega opened, and I didn't hate them as much as I thought I would. In fact, I really liked the set until their last song, which was terrible. But they were fun to watch, despite the posturing and the eye makeup.

The crowd wasn't big, and I began to wonder if the Von Bondies took too much time off, and are now in the position of having to rebuild their fanbase. They didn't seem to care, and after some minor technical difficulties during their first few songs and some awkward banter from the girls in the band, they got down to barreling through a good amount of music. They played "Pale Bride" (terrible name, great song), the single off the new record, early in the set, and with that out of the way they delved into a random smattering of old and new, mixing up the set really well.Lead dude Jason Stollsteimer is an awkward goofball, and his attempts to talk to the drunk crowd didn't go over too well. But, he seemed happy to be there, and went as far as to take some requests from the rum-soaked fat dudes who wouldn't pipe down. They played "C'mon C'mon" last, and while people seemed excited to hear it, it wasn't like they were waiting for it, and that made me happy for some reason. They left after that, but came back and did two more songs before calling it a night.

I bought the "Pale Bride" 7" (yellow vinyl and a non-album bonus track) from the bass player, who had to rush out from backstage, and we called it a night.

I Went to a Show: M. Ward at the Aladdin Theater (March 7, 2009)

This is not a photo from the show, but from a gig about a month ago. However, this is exactly what it looked like, so that's why it's here.

Anywho, my friend Nate is playing guitar/keys with M. Ward on his current tour, so he got me and m'lady tickets to see the show at the Aladdin last night, and we had a great time. This was the first of three sold-out nights at the spot on the East end of the Ross Island Bridge, and sort of a short homecoming for Mr. Ward and the group. We showed up around 7:30 (showtime was listed as 8), and were able to get some seats in the center near the back on the floor level. The Aladdin isn't huge, so they ended up being fine spots from which to enjoy the show. It was a diverse crowd: young and old, hip and decidedly not hip. That was nice to see.

California group Port O'Brien opened the show, and they seemed happy to be playing in front of a packed house. I didn't really care for their music, but that's not saying much; it just wasn't something there was any chance of me liking. My knee-jerk reaction was to write them off as "too Neil Young-y," and I think I'm sticking with that. For some people, this would probably read as a ringing endorsement. And sure, if you like Neil Young, you would most likely love this band. I don't really care for Neil Young, so, you know, there you go.

I'm gonna be honest here: the extent of my M. Ward listening (not counting the She & Him record that we bought about a month ago and doesn't qualify) has been his new LP, which I purchased this past Thursday. I'm sure I heard songs here and there, and definitely have known about him for a few years now, but I never took the plunge. I guess it took one of my oldest friends joining his band to put me into action. I liked the new record (Hold Time) more and more every time I listened to it, so I knew the show would be a fine time. Mostly I was excited about seeing Nate in front of that many people.

Here's the odd part: I could barely see him. Or anyone for that matter. You know those shows where it starts out dark and the band does a few songs in the pitch-blackness of it all, teasing you with their shadows until the moment when it all comes crashing in and the lights suddenly flare up, revealing the group onstage? This was like the first part, before the lights come on, for the entire show. Now honestly, it worked really well with the music, but I was a little pissed I couldn't see my friend up there. Something about it seemed really cruel: he's finally "made it" in some capacity, and no one can even tell that's him up there. Of course, that's not the point, and like I said, it worked well in that the focus became entirely about the music. (Some people must not have liked it–we saw a few groups walk out long before it was over.)

And it wasn't pitch black. It looked a lot like that picture up there (though that would be one of the brighter moments). So, you could certainly make out what was happening, just not very clearly. Anyway, the show was fantastic. M. Ward came out by himself in the beginning, playing a crazy flurry of acoustic guitar which segued into a handful of proper songs. The band came out, and they ran through another 15 or so songs in what seemed like record time. I don't know if the show was short or if I was just engulfed in the music, but it flew by.

They did one encore and called it a night. Everyone seemed satisfied, enough to give them a standing ovation (there are seats in the Aladdin). And I got to see one of my great friends be a part of it all. Really cool.

Check out a short video that someone uploaded to YouTube. Yeah, it was really that dark.