Review: Blockhead – The Music Scene
The album’s opener, “It’s Raining Clouds” begins with some thunderous beats – get ready folks, Blockhead is in the house. The song is pretty all over the place yet somehow manages to sound cohesive at the same time. A mixture of monstrous beats, a sample of some harmonizing vocals, bass, horns, flute, sitar and the list goes on. “Only Sequence Changes” is definitely an album highlight, again melding various musical styles together to form an altogether insane yet irresistible combination. On this one we’ve got 50s style female vocal samples along with tenor sax, piano and orchestrated strings all reaching to unthinkable heights. Blockhead was clearly having a love affair with a saxophone during the recording of this album, which can be heard best on “Which One of You Jerks Drank my Arnold Palmer”. Although the album is strong, there are a few parts that don’t sit as well as others, such as the drum and bass track “The Daily Routine”, which hosts an overpowering argument between junkies. On “Four Walls”, Blockhead pulls a Lil’ Wayne and whips out the auto-tune, which let’s face it, is getting kind of old.
Blockhead’s fourth definitely has a more trip-hop, down-tempo and ambient vibe than its predecessors. There are old, classic vocal samples spread out all over, which really give an authentic and vintage feel to the album. These samples, each carefully hand-picked, have been meticulously layered together over one another in near perfection. This is not an album for a single listen, but rather repeated listening are necessary to truly get the music. There are so many layers and surprises to be discovered, that many will begin to appear only after a couple listens have soaked in. If you’re a fan of DJ Shadow or Burial, this one is for you.
Key Tracks: “It’s Raining Clouds”, “Only Sequences Changes” and “Attack the Doctor”
Rating: 8.5/10
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