[noisereductions]

honestly, first track i was just in disbelief. I don't know how you pick up after 18 years and make it sound so effortless. But they did. Unbelievable.

[louder]

If only Wu-Tang could do the same..

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

If only Wu-Tang could do the same..

Pretty sure they've proven they can't, won't, and have no interest in entertaining even the notion of doing so.

For years and years I was one of the Wu's most vocal supporters. But as much as I still love their first four albums, my entire opinion on them as a group has been damaged so severely over the last couple years that it's depressing to even think about them in the context of Tribe.

I used to follow and rep every member on social media, but after years of seeing pathetic posts peddling new "Wu tang brand" products (most of which are embarrassingly childish, like rolling papers and "dynamite sticks") I can't stomach it anymore.

To give you an idea of just how much my opinion of them has changed, consider this: I haven't even bothered to listen to a snippet of a track Martin S. has teased from the "new" album. Not only because it represents the greatest political abomination in American history, but also because I just don't fucking give a shit anymore.
Yet I spent years between albums waitjng desperately for a glimpse of what would become 8 Diagrams back in the day.

Compare that to how an 8 second snippet of "Father Stretch My Hands pt.1" made me lose my fucking grown ass mind for weeks, and you can see how completely the group has fallen from favor.

[Severian]

Ick. I don't even want to think about them when the *real* Beatles of hip-hop just released a brand new DOUBLE album after 18 years of silence.

This is like the "Free as a Bird"/"Real Love" of rap. Only it's better, because it's genuinely brand new music from all founding members.

(For the record, this album doesn't hit me like TLOP -- it's highs are nowhere near as high, but it basically has no lows, so... while TLOP is without question my favorite album, hip-hop or otherwise, of the year, this is way WAY the duck up there.)

[Severian]

Also, louder, I think you said it was on par with their first threee albums?
Well, it's no Midnight Marauders or Low End Theory, but I honestly think you're right. It is of comparable quality to those albums. Stunning really.

[noisereductions]

double album?

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

double album?

Yeah, it's a double album. Double as in two discs. 18 tracks. Even popped up in my iTunes presorted that way when I bought it (which I did Thursday night, because for some reason shit's always avalaible a little early on iTunes. One of the reasons why I like it.)

I'm also getting a physical copy, as I always do for big releases like this.

But yeah, double album. What, you haven't heard it yet? Get on that shit, buddy!

[noisereductions]

I heard it on spotify. I had no idea it was 2 discs.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

I heard it on spotify. I had no idea it was 2 discs.

It's a new Tribe album yo. Don't tell me you're not getting the physical edition.

Also, you liked it? Did you already say? I forget.

[noisereductions]

I did say just a few posts back. I think it is great. About on par w Beats Rhymes and Life, which I love. I plan to get physical whenever it frops.

[noisereductions]

Yall watched Tribe on snl right? Cuz it was fantastic.

[pepper_green]

^^I did. it was awesome. and for the first time in a while I laughed at a lot more SNL skits. Im glad they got off their high horse.

and of course, Chappelle delivers every time. that Election Night skit..lol!!

[louder]

The new Bruno album is pretty good.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by louder

The new Bruno album is pretty good.

I generally dont like his music at all.

[louder]

I think this album is enjoyable regardless of how one feels about his older stuff. It's nothing innovative, just a blend of throwback R&B sounds but really well done.

[louder]

Not that it means much, but it's the best pop album since Lemonade. Heh.

STARBOY will be better though.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

The new Bruno album is pretty good.

I'm with NR on this one. Glad you're enjoying it, but I almost certainly will not.

[Severian]

Still wrapping my head around the sprawling new Tribe. I love this album. I think it pretty much craps on The Love Movement and Beats, Rhymes & Life (both of which I actually love, so that's not a rip on those albums at all even though it might sound like one).

Seriously, hearing André 3000, Kendrick, fucking Kanye (!!!), Anderson .Paak, Consequence (who I spotted by ear... didn't see him in the original story about the features, and I'm only working with the iTunes copy right now, which lists exactly nobody) and fucking Talib Kweli all lend their voices and talents to an ATCQ blowout is downright heavenly.

I was a bit worried, but not anymore. This is an amazing album. Can't wait for my physical copy to arrive.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by Severian

Still wrapping my head around the sprawling new Tribe. I love this album. I think it pretty much craps on The Love Movement and Beats, Rhymes & Life (both of which I actually love, so that's not a rip on those albums at all even though it might sound like one).

word. It is really a lot to take in. I feel like I can't even make time for other new albums at this point. There's already more stuff to take in than I have room for in my ears haha.

I always thought Love Movement was the weakest Tribe album. I mean... lots to love on there, but not a great ALBUM. I love love love Beats Rhymes & Life though. I this is ON PAR w/ BR&L, but I don't know that I'd say it's "better" yet.

[Severian]

Re: Bruno Mars

Not trying to be a dick here... louder, you know I love you.. but this guy kind of exemplifies everything that depresses me about modern popular music. He's just such a fucking... choad... for lack of a better, smarter word.

There's a tendency in modern pop to use mining from the past as ones only real strategy for making an impression. Like, how the hell did "Uptown Funk" become the biggest song of he decade? It's just a cheap storebought SALAD of pre-fab funk, soul and early hip-hop tropes. Yes, it's catchy. It's also FUCKING TERRIBLE.

Traditionalism can be a great tool in modern music making. When used correctly, and coupled with the right modern -- or better yet, truly novel-- touches, it can really have an impact. This is part of why I love Betoncé's "All Night" so goddamn much. It sounds like the kind of thing you'd hear in a late '60s/early '70s Motown record, but it's got this very modern delivery. It just shines like icking crazy next to most modern pop songs.

Bruno and his lot seem totally content with just being throwbacky. Resistant to evolution. It's a close cousin of the kind of updated traditionalism that Beyoncé (and Kanye and Chance) have used to stand out this year, but it's like it's been casteated... it's missing the ingredient that these other artists have used to make electrifyingly potent music that's both a tribute to their forebears and an unblinking look forward into the unknown.

And the fuck is that guy still doing in that FUCKING hat?! Isn't this his third or fourth album? But still with the hat? I'm guessing that without the hat nobody would recognize him, which means he's doing something wrong. There's a reason why Kanye ditched the polos (and the bow tie, and the tuxedo, and the mirror mask). I guess some "artists" are just totally fine with resisting change on all fronts, but that's never going to be the kind of artist that I dig.

Lady Gaga is stuck too. Stuck in her role as "this generation's Madonna" ... so much so that she is not even that anymore, as Madonna had conquered worlds by her fourth album, and Gaga is fizzling out.

No offense, louder.
Honestly I think I'm just really stoked to have something other than the election to bitch about. Thank you guys for the much needed distraction.