Nothing Dirty About It

Honestly, besides a few exceptional albums that came out earlier in 2007, my exposure has been limited legitimate underground hip hop lately.

The Cunninlynguists new album “Dirty Arces” helped revive the rap side of my music tastes and get back into the game. The album differs quite a bit from the earlier releases both lyrically and in its composition when compared to their acclaimed prevous releases “A Piece of Strange” and “Southernunderground.”

What differentiates the Cunninglynguists from many rap groups is how the band climaxes their tempo during many songs, making what starts off as a very slow song to become very up tempo and poppy.

The newer style is quite refreshing though, leaving out many of the boring points that some of the trio's predecessor albums. Strong highlights from “Dirty Acres” include the songs “Wonderful,” “Dirty Acres” and “Summer's Gone.”

Check with Metacritic.com to see what other hip-hop enthusiasts have to say about “Dirty Acres.” Since the album release on Tuesday, the album has already been acclaimed by many; achieving the “#34” position of best albums worldwide of 2007 on rateyourmusic.com.

If you have limited exposure to southern hip-hop and want to know of a place to start, the Cunninlynguists are an ideal rap production to get into.

Cunning Linguist

The niche of of underground hip hop is something that is very interesting to analyze. There are a lot of acts that are out there, but it is hard to find something undercover that is credible.

A lot of politics come into play for an underground artist to gain recognition and respect among the underground community. One such act that is becoming popular as the years progress are the southern US trio the Cunninglynguists.

The act is very similar to Outkast, the notorious rap duo that also hails from Gerogia. The new "southern rap" that both groups exhibit is a common characteristic of the demographic. The rap temo is known for being very fast during a song, but then slows down drastically.

The Cunninglynguists have received a lot of hype since thier acclaimed album "A Piece Of Strange" that was released in 2005.

The act will release their new album "Dirty Acres" later this week. I am very interested to see how the album will live up to the expectations that surround it, and will check it out later this week.

Lies

As expected, the Liars new album that was released earlier this September is the instant headache I thought it would be. If you want to listen to three guys rambling in chants about nonsense, this album is right for you.

In defense for "Liars", the band really are pushing the boundaries for contemporary music, making it seem like a hybrid artistic expression.

In comparison to the last album "Drums Not Dead", it does seem a little bit more manageable and less intense. Don't get me wrong,the band is still very wacky and nothing makes sense. However, there at least a few songs that are listenable and worth your while.

After listening to the entire album "Plaster Casts of Everything" is by far the album's gem. All other songs are really strange and hard to stomach, but if you are in a certain mood they might be able to suite you.

I don't think that the album will necessarily have any staying power with things you would be interested in listening tom, but it's at least

I fully don't understand what many people find so interesting about the band because the material becomes somewhat repetitive and boring as the previous releases.

If you're feeling adventurous for crazy post-modern tribal music, "Liars" might be worth checking out some time. Some critics like the album such as Pitchfork Media

Don't Believe The Hype

This week is a drought for new music releases that I think are worth your while. So I don't think we'll be focusing on anything that came out lately.

Don't cry though, there's plenty of good music of 2007 to review and critique!

So for this week's post I thought I would discuss a music band that many critics and music sites fancy that I usually have never been very fussed about.

Lately, I have found myself listening to more underground types of music. I wouldn't say that indie is the best way to describe the kind of stuff I have been delving into, but it is definitely not the kind of music you would usually hear about unless you really looked for it on music forums or international music sites.

A lot of times I have found new bands based on other critics or fan's testimonies about how credible the bands are. However, sometimes I disagree with what other people say and struggle to find value.

A prime example of an underground band that is very notorious on the internet and on critics' sites are the Liars.

I consider myself to be able to withstand a lot of unorthodox music, but this New York based band puts out music that is REALLY out there. Despite the unconventional style, the band's 2006 album "Drums Not Dead" was considered the album of the year by many critics.

Pitchfork Media ranked the album number 6 on their list of the Top 50 albums of 2006.

I personally found the album to be complete garbage and incoherent. With strange titles such as "Let's Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack" I was a little overwhelmed by the album's theme and veracity.

Liar's released a self-titled album earlier this year that I haven't had a chance to listen to yet. I will get my hands on it and see how it compares to the last album and whether the bad has made any progress.

Homecoming

As one of the most unorthodox international music bands in the world, one can understand why Sigur Ros would want to focus on their homeland of Iceland and get back to their culture while touring in 2006.

The latest EP "Heima" is music that accompanies the band's upcoming documentary DVD.

Sigur Ros portrays in this release what it means to live in Icleand, and how natural beauty as well as a unique culture is implemented into Sigur Ros' music.

THe EP is separated into two disks. The first disk is unreleased acoustic versions of b-sides the band has accumulated over the years. The second disk is also acoustic, but more like a greatest hits live recording 6 track glimpse to highlights from previous albums.

"Heima" is definitely a nice addition for any Sigur Ros collector. However, it would have been nice to see any new material from the band rather than only b-sides.

The Victory Rose

One of the most interesting things about post-modern popular music is how easy it is to disperse music and strike interests in the the most unlikely listeners.

Sigur Ros, meaning "Victory Rose" in English, is an Icelandic band who speaks not a word of English in their vocals. Despite the language barrier, the band has appealed to audiences around the world selling multi-platinum international records and making them one of the most notorious groups worldwide.

You might not be aware of the band on the name alone, but their ambient music has been behind the scenes in the background for many movie trailers, and public service commercials.

What makes the music of Sigur Ros so interesting is its ability to evoke emotions even if there is a loss of translations in the vocals.

Sigur Ros' music is similar to what a ghost would listen to if it were wandering the world.

"Von," "Agaetis Byrjun," "()," and "Takk..." have been albums considered by music critics to be some of the greatest of the decade. The band has achieved worldwide critical success and is expected to release a new album in 2008.

In the meantime of the album hiatus,the band toured extensively in 2006 in the isolated and majestic world of Iceland. Sigur Ros will release a DVD documentary called "Heima" about their experience on Nov. 20th. The trailer for the movie is very interesting.

In addition, the band will release an EP tomorrow "Heim" appropriately meaning "home" in Icelandic.

The EP will be a 8-track release with songs performed by the band when they were in Iceland 2006. After I get my hands on it, I will explain some of the highlights later this week.