K-Os – Yes!
Say yes to Yes! K-Os’s newest album, Yes!, delves the artist further into the unknown realms of hip-hop’s depths. Like K-Os says himself on the first track, “Mr. Telephone Man,” “It’s a long way down.” This underground Canadian hip-hop mastermind is one in a billion as he creates a unique sound using a wide mix of genres that is something…beautiful.
There are so many words and so many synonyms that all describe the same thing: greatness. Yes, this is the next man to break minds as he explores genres and tears down walls with a wonderful mystery of sounds and illusions created by what seems like the one true hip hop head left in the game. K-Os isn’t playing by their games; he chooses to rap about the positive side of life. Full of exuberance and true grace, he is calling out all the fake rappers in the game and challenging them to do better, to meet him on a higher plain. With this album K-Os has created another in a long long line of classic albums. It’s full of funk, r&b, hip-hop, alt. rock, soul and great blues riffs.
This album is a must for people who love good music and are sick of the pestilence cast upon rap and hip-hop, this gluttonous culture of drugs and money that has twisted our once beautiful girl of hip-hop into a beast; luckily for all of us there is someone out there like K-Os to ask us what for. With 4-3-2-1 K-Os has cemented himself in my mind as one of the greatest voices for our generation, asking us, “What we fighting for?”
I hope everyone has the opportunity to just listen and check out some K-Os sometime because this shining star is the Marvin Gaye or Bob Marley of our generation. In a turbulent time when our blossoming generation is growing up even as we grow scared because of all the hate, I ask you to let K-Os disperse all of that hate because it’s all love when you’re listening to him. And then…K-Os turns it on with tracks like, “Zambony,” taking hip-hop back to its roots like turning on a switch. K-Os is an extraordinary gift to music; just take a listen, check out his myspace, google the guy, whatever you have to do, but just check him out, this dude deserves it. I would just like to thank K-Os for making music that is fun to listen too and for renewing my love of hip-hop. My Rating 9-10…(It was so short was my only problem; at only 38 minutes long I wanted more.)
By Max None
Pet Shop Boys – Yes
The Pet Shop Boys are back with a new album inaptly named ‘Yes.’
The first song is the blatantly obvious single ‘Love etc.’ You can hear how it’s been produced to serve that just specific purpose and nothing else. It stands out from the rest of the album in that it’s the only really catchy song so it’s understandably bound to be the most popular. The lyrics are full of antimaterialistic clichés about not needing money or wealth or a house in Beverly Hills because all you need is love. Does that sound a bit familiar?
It wouldn’t be the only one. ‘Beautiful People’ deserves a mention. I dare you to listen to the chorus (“I want to live like beautiful people”) and not think of a certain bespectacled Britpopper and a rather successful 90s anthem. Then there’s ‘The way it used to be’ – another lyrically mundane track that only manages to pep things up for about 30 seconds by sneaking in a rip-off of the New Radicals’ ‘You get what you give.’ See, if you’re going to steal songs, you should know better than to target the ones everyone knows.
You might think it’s a bit unfair to chastise the Boys so much on the basis of lyrics. Surely as an electronic band we’re supposed to focus on the music and treat the lyrics as secondary. No, not with these fellows. Not when they’ve charmed you with the pleasantly cynical ‘Rent’ and everyone’s favourite ‘West End Girls’. If they must sacrifice lyrics, they could make up for it with an insanely unforgettable ditty a la ‘Go West’.
‘Building a wall’ starts a bit dubiously but picks up soon enough and is probably one of the better tracks on the album. ‘King of Rome’ deserves a mention as, apart from ‘Love etc.’, it’s the most memorable song on the tracklist. It’s easy to listen to and the lyrics are a definite improvement.
We close with ‘Legacy’ – PSB want us to know this is the grand finale. They may as well be holding neon signs over their heads.”That’s it, the end/but you’ll get over it, my friend” – these are the first words we hear mere moments into the song. Get over it, eh? I think I already am.
On Yes, the music is unremarkable and the lyrics are dull. It seems like PSB made a record simply for the sake of making a record. The whole album sounds like you’ve heard it somewhere already and that somewhere is not necessarily a Pet Shop Boys CD (or tape). Put a bit more heart into it, guys.
Devastations – Yes, U
Always nicely dressed Devastations are back with their third album “Yes,U.” This is my first Devastations album but the band is signed on Beggars Banquet so that was able to help shape my expectations and you know the record is going to be solid with the track record. But, this Australian three piece is a very peculiar bunch. Vocally, the band have a very heavy and dark undertones to the vocals a lot in the likeness of say a Nick Cave. Musically the band are quite different from what you would expect. There are elements of your post-rock with the heavy distortions and epic sounds. The band also bring a element of programmed beats to the music. The one thing is this constant in the album is that they like to get loud.
“Black Ice” starts off with a slow beat that you think you are about to listen to some early 90s R&B, but then the vocals slowly kick in. The vocals are very soft and with a distant piano in their combined with the R&B beat makes for a special start. “Oh Me, Oh My” starts to get their inner noise kings out of them. The song has a strange soothing vibe to it with the giant wave of sound hitting you. “Rosa” is the track that made me fall in love with the band. The song starts off with a strong vocal and slowly starts building and the progression is fierce and noisy. The last two minutes is as frightening and chaotic as I have heard in a long time. I think you can hear some screams in the background of this sound collage that is just as huge as can be. “As Sparks Fly Upwards” sounds really nice at times but the song never seems to really go anywhere. “The Face Of Love” is a very heartfelt acoustic song. The “sha-la” sounds a little weird at first but they fit in with the song.
“Yes, U” is a charming record, there is a lot to like about this band. They take risks in some of their songs but they always seem to pay off. Aside, from a few minor slip up this is quite a rich and deep album worthy of your dollar.
By John Siwicki