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http://www.fluxblog.org/?p=2921

DJ Quik & Kurupt “Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues)”

I feel so dumb for having missed this until just recently, but it seems like the DJ Quik & Kurupt album took just about everyone who has heard it by surprise. BlaQKout is an absurdly pleasurable hip hop record; a tight set of songs that hover in a lovely middle ground between “Wow, they don’t make ‘em like this anymore!” late ’90s/early ’00s nostalgia and “What the fuck are they doing?” ingenuity. “Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues)”, the album’s dizzying centerpiece, drifts between solemn devotional chants and carefree summer jam bounciness, with the emcees deftly negotiating the chasm separating thoughtful intensity and glib hedonism in their verses. The track is a seamless blend of darkness and light, but the result is anything but gray — if anything, the things comes out sounding more like fluorescent day-glo without losing any sense of gravity. This is the work of men who have been working hard at their craft for years, and have reached the point where they can make this elegant music seem totally relaxed and easy. If you need a parallel to another album from 2009, you can think of this as hip hop’s answer to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

Buy it from Amazon.

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http://www.fluxblog.org/?p=2917

The Long Blondes “You Could Have Both”

You could just choke on the bitter disappointment and desperation in this song. Kate Jackson’s character is well beyond caring about anything at this point, let alone herself. She just wants some kind of return on her emotional investment, all the while trying to mask her raw emotions with a jaded front. She’s long past reserving her contempt for her rival — she hates herself for wanting someone so badly and being strung along like an idiot. She knows that there’s no winning in this situation, and there is no way having “both” can be a positive thing for anyone at all. She’s driven herself crazy with compromise and there’s only one way out of the problem, even if she hasn’t realized it yet. Until then, you have this mess of anxiety, ego, loneliness, and fear. Frankly, it’s sort of amazing that the Long Blondes could make a feeling so awful and pathetic sound so exciting and sexy.

Buy it from Amazon.

The Long Blondes “The Couples”

The character in “The Couples” has had it. She’s been coming to this same old bar, playing the game, but she always loses. The only men who seem interested have already paired off, and she can’t rationalize being the other woman — or at least, not anymore. It’s not clear whether or not she actually wants to be half of a couple, but she’s certainly fed up with not having the option, and even more annoyed when more fortunate people condescend to know how she feels. It’s all set-up for a truly brilliant chorus: “These people have the nerve to tell me that they’re lonely…you’re not lonely; I am, baby.” Jackson sounds a little bit exasperated, but mostly resigned, particularly when the chorus gives way to a disheartened sigh, or a breakdown in which she imagines her isolation on a cosmic scale.

Buy it from Amazon. Originally posted 5/19/2008.

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