Transplants - Self-titled

Transplants were a rap/rock supergroup from America who formed in 1999. This debut self-titled album was released in 2002, three years before Haunted Cities.

The opening song, Romper Stomper, is basically an indistinct wall-of-noise topped off by shouty lyrics. However it does an adequate role as an opener that introduces the style of the album. Quick Death is much of the same, in my book.

Thankfully, many of the album's songs feature a strong melodic element, beginning with Tall Cans in the Air. A lot like The Clash's debut album, it's a wonderful combination of smooth-yet-still-punk-rock instrumental melodies and angry vocal spat in your face. Tall Cans in the Air's highlights include a timeless hook, a great singalong chorus and a nice build-up through each of the verses into the chorus.

Profanity in pop music is pretty commonplace these days, but back in 2002, dropping the c-bomb in the lyrics of D.J. D.J. would have been quite a statement. Anyway, it's a very nicely rounded song, contrasting between the bouncy energy of the verses and the understated yet highly infectious chorus. My favourite elements are the highly catchy guitar riff and the simple but inspiring words of the chorus: "We're gonna make it on our own / We don't need anyone / Lord knows we don't need you".

Speaking of hooks, the piano riff in Diamonds & Guns is probably the Transplants greatest hook ever. It's bouncy irreverence perfectly contrasts the grim violence of gang life, which is brilliantly illustrated by the lyrics (exhibit A: "...Is it the one with the suit? The one with the sack [body bag]? The one who hides behind his f**king gun and his badge"). On a personal note, I was introduced to this song (and therefore Transplants in general) through a TV ad for the Garnier Fructis shampoo, of all things. Despite all this praise, I've heard this song countless times, so unfortunately I kind of take it for granted these days. However that shouldn't detract from it being a ripper of a song and it is rightfully their most successful single.

The aforementioned three songs sum up this album for me. It seems like a simple formula: upbeat hiphop rock with shouty lyrics about the harsh gang life, with heavy reliance on a melodic hook. Good hook? Then it's a great song. Bad hook? Then unfortunately it isn't.

Dialling back the vehemence for a moment, Sad But True is a wonderful touching ballad with great subtlety and folk-music influences, especially in the chord progression. Like Bro Hymn by Pennywise, it's a spine-tinglingly good tribute to a deceased friend. We Trusted You is a bit more energetic and vengeful, but otherwise shares many of its positive attributes.

One Seventeen isn't particularly memorable, but the punk-rock style injects some good variety into the middle of the album. On the other hand, DREAM is probably the closest example of a traditional hiphop song... and it comes off like a lame white-boy attempt (especially with the some very cringeworthy lyrics). Returning to more familiar territory, California Babylon's piano riff injects a wonderful lighthearted energy, somehow reminding me of Moby. 

Down in Oakland is a unique and excellent take on the ska style, despite the lacking the usual trait of an off-beat guitar. Bear with me here... sure, there's the obvious toasting ("chk-a-chk-chk") vocals at the start, but it runs deeper than that. Effectively, the guitar is playing the horn line of the chorus, and the subtle Hammond organ in the background is another ska strait. Also, one could argue that the guitar is actually playing off-beats during the verses, albeit at half the tempo of the song... so there!

Favourite songs

Tall Cans in the Air, D.J. D.J., Diamonds & Guns, Sad But True, California Babylon, We Trusted You, Down in Oakland

Kanye West- Gold Digger

This is the hugely successful single off Kanye West's second album, Late Registration.

Somehow, this is a pop song which combines a classic swing standard, useful advice about financial planning ("if you ain't no punk, holler 'We want pre-nup, we want pre-nup' ") and use of vocals as the backing instruments. Perhaps its an a capella rapsong?! Yet it all fits together seamlessly, resulting in pop music perfection.

As for the B-sides, rap isn't really my cup of tea, and Diamonds Are Forever or We Can Make It Better certainly aren't going to change that!

Favourite songs

Gold Digger

Worthwhile?

Yes, it's a left-field gem.

Beastie Boys- Solid Gold Hits

Beastie Boys were formed in 1981 and released their first rap album in 1986. This mid-career Best Of was released in 2005.

Somehow, despite all their success, Beastie Boys have passed me by. So I tried to make amends by buying this compilation, subconsciously hoping it would be my ticket to hanging out with the cool kids!

Early signs aren't good, though. I find So What'cha Want somehow sounds harsh. And while the hammond organ is a nice touch, the song is too stop-start for me to properly get into a groove. It's a similar story for Brass Monkey.

The shredding guitar riff of No Sleep Till Brooklyn makes it much more pop-friendly, so it's a song I can really get into. It's also held together nicely with a great, anthemic chorus. Taking the rock influence a step further is Fight For Your Right. It's so cheesy, but I totally dig it.

Hey Ladies is probably my favourite "typical" Beastie Boys song. It's the one time I really get into the breakneck pace of the shared lyrics, and the snappy interplay between singers. Holding it together is a nice funk influence in the backing music. It all goes a bit experimental, which is interesting at first, but unfortunately starts killing the groove towards the end. Surprisingly for late 80s rap, the song features some pretty hectik bass.

Speaking of dubstep, Pass The Mike has great appeal thanks to it's smoother, menacing groove. And the bass-quakes are again an amusing element.

An Open Letter To NYC is fantastic on many levels. The swirling electronic backing has great intriuge, and I really enjoy the husky vocals for some reason. But the highlight is the lyrics, which brings a wonderful humility and emotion to the bustling metropolis that is New York:
Dear New York, I know a lot has changed
Two towers down but you're still in the game
Home to many rejecting no-one
Accepting peoples of all places, wherever they're from

On some songs, I get the feeling that the backing tracks would make great songs if it weren't for the rapping. Hmmm. The beatnik-jazz style of Root Down and Sure Shot are examples of this.

Intergalactic is bonkers. Fantastically bonkers. I have no idea what they're singing about, yet this confusion only increases the sense of a sci-fi adventure while tripping balls. And that organ groove is brilliant.

Similarly, Sabotage's backing music brings a grand scale to the song. It fits perfectly with the rapping, very much like Rage Against The Machine. My favourite moments are how it cranks back up to full attack after a short breather.

Favourite songs

No Sleep Till Brooklyn, Pass The Mike, An Open Letter To NYC, Intergalactic

Worthwhile?

In the end, I can't help thinking that rap isn't my cup of tea. While there are many enjoyable moments here, I think it's more the pop novelties that are holding my interest in the Beastie Boys, which is kinda missing the point. All of this probably means that I am not worthy of this great album...

Butterfingers- Everytime

This is the debut single by the band, which was released in 2002.

Jumping straight in, Everytime is simply hilarious. And it gets more and more purile as it continues. Fantastic! The accompanying groove is nicely catchy, with the perfect amount of cheesiness to suit the humour.

Females (Do Your Belt Up) sees them ripping out another infectious groove. Unfortunately it is all undermined by the victim-blaming message of the lyrics.

Bringing some variety to the CD, Let It Burn is a solid effort at a minimal dub style. It's not my cup of tea, but it works well to mix things up a bit.

Speaking of mixing things up, the bonus track is wonderfully oddball! Without spoiling the surprise if you haven't heard it, I'll just say that the Michael Jackson reference is a great highlight.

Favourite songs

Everytime

Worthwhile?

Yep, for the LOLs.

True Live- The Shape Of It (album)

In 2006, True Live released their debut album, a year after their debut EP.

A viola cadenza to start a hiphop album? Yes! It works brilliantly, both in its own right and as a lead-in to the next song. As good as it is on the album, hearing Improvisation On A Theme played live takes it to another spine-tingling level.

Keep Myself Awake continues the brilliant melody of the intro, and adds a fantastic groove, great lyrics and a nice simple singalong chorus. A wonderful combination of catchy and emotional.

Speaking of catchy, the chorus of TV is dripping in catchiness. Great stuff. The experimental style of the chorus is a bit of a dilemma for me: on one hand I dig the jazz experimentation, on the other hand it does disrupt the feel-good pop energy at times. However what definitely works a treat are the lyrics, keeping it "real" with some nicely biting social commentaries.

The beatnik influences on Be That Cat don't really appeal to me. Carry Yaself has a great story about a wannabe Eminem, although the staccato groove doesn't really do it for me.

Evolution isn't a song I'd listen to in isolation, but here it works well as an interlude. This is one of four songs that also appears on the EP, and unfortunately I can't help but comparing these album versions to the EP, In the case of Evolution, the extra cameos and effects of the album version detract from the beautiful simplicity of the song.

Question This is just as brilliant as on the EP, in fact I think it's the same recording. And Try Walk Left surpasses the EP version, thanks to somehow having even more vehemence crammed in. Brilliant.

Bounce unfortunately suffers in comparison with the version on the EP. On the album, the laidback tempo at the start compares poorly cousin to the start-to-finish energy of the EP version. And while I'm not a fan of excessive profanity, neutering the rallying call of the crowd from "shut your fucking mouth and throw up your hands" to "shut your damn mouth..." is a terrible compromise of artistic purity. Shameful! In all seriousness, though, it's still a great song.

Audio quality rant incoming: Conventional wisdom would be that the bass sounds are flabby and bloated, robbing the choruses of tightly-controlled hits of the kick-drum. However the benefit is a double-bass just dripping with character, so I think it was an excellent decision. Looking at the higher-pitched sounds, the strings in particular are a pleasure. It all adds up to a unique and highly enjoyable sound.

Side Steppa introduces a fantastic "mad professor" element. Primal and insane, with the ego on overdrive. The rap put-down of "Fuck man, I freestyle better than that" sums it up perfectly. To me, it sets the scene of a tribe psyching themselves up before battle. Rather than just describing it, the song manages to make you part of it, creating a fantastic experience.

Let Out pulls off the same incredible stunt as Side Steppa, this time with a more electronic style, to keep things fresh.

Favourite songs

Improvisation On A Theme, Keep Myself Awake, Question This, Try Walk Left, Side Steppa, Let Out

Worthwhile?

Hell yeah! Even given the overlap with the EP, this album has plenty to offer. The band has been described as having the novelty of "hiphop with strings", but actually it's "self-aware hiphop with intelligence (and strings)".

The Herd- The Sun Never Sets

This is The Herd's third album, released in 2006 as the follow up to An Elefant Never Forgets.

Unpredictable is to hiphop what Bei Mir Bist Du Schein is to swing! Both are brilliant thanks to the perfect integration of folk influences and the huge bouncing energy as the tempo winds up. It is perfectly described by Pandora: "hednodic beats". The highlight for me is the barely-controlled, anything-goes party madness, similar to Mischief.

Also, a quick rave about the recording quality. I really dig the meatier bottom end to the sound. Compared to An Elefant Never Forgets, it also features more layering and "smoother" basslines in many cases.

The infectious groove of Long Lunch nicely complements its wonderful narrative and message.

We Can't Hear You has fantastic "bounciness". Lyrics such as "His name is Junk John, his alias is a month long" are an amusing yet insightful tale of commercial music fame. And the following phrase about crowd heckling is an all-time favourite lyric of mine:
Don't get me wrong,
I love it when you answer.
But would you say "ho"
If I said Pauline Hanson?

Vastly contrasting this is the ballad Under Pressure. It is beautifully raw, and a particular highlight is the spine-tingling chorus. Similarly, Full Moon is a brilliant depiction of a desolate scene. The beat is quite catchy, yet nicely restrained to match the tale.

The first instrumental, Where is Everyone, is a nice chillout song. Later in the album, No Disclaimer is another nice interlude- this time a bit more bouncy.

Towards the second half of the album, my interest begins to wane. Apolyptica is a good execution of a slow, menacing style, but it isn't really to my taste. Nor are the drum'n'bass influences of Can't Breathe and Starship Troopers.

But then it bounces back in a big way with Mischief- my favourite song on the album. It perfectly captures a wonderful unplanned night of chaos. Also, the chorus is brilliantly infectious.

Another perfect combination of hiphop and folk is the cover I Was Only 19. The brilliantly emotive lyrics of original are nicely complemented with the catchy hiphop beat. However, I do prefer the recording from Triple J's Like a Version, which allows the guitar melody to shine through better.

Favourite songs

Unpredictable, Long Lunch, We Can't Hear You, Where is Everyone, Full Moon, Mischief, No Disclaimer, I Was Only 19

Worthwhile?

Absolutely. The bounciness and folk elements make this a wonderfully fun hiphop album. And the clever lyrics give it great meaning. Top stuff.

The Herd- An Elefant Never Forgets

In 2003, Australian band The Herd released this second album.

While Aussie hiphop is often mocked, personally I dig where it's coming from. Commercial American hiphop lyrics are often an egotistical boast of bitches / Bentleys / etc. However, Aussie hiphop often takes on a poetic or protest stance with its lyrics, which is fantastic. For me, it makes for wonderful background music for a barbeque with mates on a lazy sunny day. Not something you listen to intently, just a soundscape to create a good vibe. So be prepared for me to harp on endlessly about "the groove"!

The Plunderers gets straight into the activism, cleverly combining emotion with a thoughtful message, such as:
Your branding shines like gold
And hides the shit below
Unfortunately, like LG and Ray of Sun, I find the mood of the song quite depressive and lacking in energy.

States of Transit is more in line with what I love about The Herd. It has a nicely bouncing groove, which perfectly reflects the tale of skateboarding through the urban rat race.

Reggaeton and drum'n'bass are styles I struggle to enjoy. Therefore, Burn Down the Parliament, The After Party Brigade and The World Keeps Turning have no appeal to me. However, I do enjoy the smoother groove for the opening and chorus of Burn Down the Parliament; also the cheesy arcade game synth sounds of The After Party Brigade are fun.

The instrumental Hunter's Theme starts out smooth and builds up nicely. In this case, the drum'n'bass works well as the climax of the song.

Superweeds, Urban Lady Saloon and When You Thought Nothing Was Happening are too staccato for my liking. Croissant Para Zwei Na Črvtek is a nice cheesy French interlude.

77% is brilliant on so many levels. The groove is highly infectious, the lyrics are very emotive and the chorus is (expletive-laden) singalong greatness. This is a song I really enjoy cranking up loud, not least to spread the political message!

Hell epitomises the "barbeque music" style I mentioned earlier, thanks to its catchy groove and the tongue-in-cheek story. High Seas and Taki Taki also feature perfect beats to accompany the frying of sausages and pouring of beers...

Favourite songs

States of Transit, 77%, Hell, High Seas 

Worthwhile?

I try to avoid judging albums statistically (ie counting the number of Favourite Songs above). So although the count for this album is a bit low, there are still some good times and it is a nicely varied album.

Having said all that... I do much prefer their next album, The Sun Never Sets.

True Live- Mintons

This debut EP was released in 2005, a year before their album The Shape of It, which features many of these songs. (the album cover for this EP is nowhere to be found on the internet, so the image here is from the follow-up album).

Question This kicks things off with an infectious bassline. Sadly the recording of said double-bass is a bit of a letdown, its sound has great character, but is a bit indistinct and perhaps distorted. Aside from this, the recording quality of the album is very good, with the springs sounding wonderfully spacious throughout. Back to Question This, other highlights are the strings interludes and the terrifically poetic and insightful slow rapping.

The lighthearted jazz interlude of Mintons is a catchy delight. Its recipe of rapping on top of a vaudeville jazz beat works a treat. Also, the speed-up at the end works well, although the final chaotic chorus is a bit out of place.

Bounce features everything wonderful about True Live: snappy strings "riffs", sharp breaks, catchy lyrics and brilliant infectious bassline (which is very nicely recorded). This is my all-time favoured hiphop song with strings (ok, there isn't a lot of competition for this honour!). It's a great song for both quietly bopping along alone at home and jumping around like crazy in a moshpit.

While Evolution is a bit so-so in isolation, it provides a nice poetic change of pace on this EP, with great introspective lyrics in the verses. Try Walk Left heads closer to traditional rap: almost as angry as Eminem! But the poetry of the lyrics is in another league.

Favourite songs

Question This, Mintons, Bounce

Worthwhile?

On paper, the combination of hiphop and strings could be a cheesy novelty. But True Live implement it with fantastic style and maturity. Fantastic.