CD Reviews

Pharoahe Monch | W.A.R.

Duck Down (2011)

By CHRIS FARAONE | March 31, 2011

4.0 Stars

If rap fans were willing to worship shit from this century, then W.A.R. would already be considered one of the greatest discs of all time. Monch is the most versatile cat rapping, at once commercial and underground, hardcore and melodic, street and polished. Despite having been a paradigmatic MC's MC since before Illmatic, he's also one of the few rhyme savants in history whose heat hasn't altogether missed the (m)asses. That said, his prior solo work has been slightly off — 1999's Internal Affairs lacked the aural honey Monch sticks to best, and 2007's Desire exhausted in the opposite direction, suffering from over-glossed production. Here the Queens genius finds complete comfort over sounds that are simultaneously familiar and adventurous. Australia's M-Phazes is the beat hero, though Marco Polo slides through with the album's toughest cut — a title track that floats on Vernon Reid guitar riffs and an NSFW Immortal Technique hook. Every last song wins, from the bounce-happy "Hitman" to the church-ready "Let My People Go"; even the features click without a hitch. Whether he's in onomatopoetic punch-line mode or scratching the Cee Lo end of his terrific range, Monch is hip-hop's superlative talent, and now he has a solo stripe to prove it.

Beastie Boys | Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
"Back on the mic, it's the anti-depressor," flows King Ad-Rock over raunchy drums and speaker-busting clavinet in "Make Some Noise," the bravado launching pad of Beastie Boys' eighth studio album.
Zion I & the Grouch | Heroes In the Healing of the Nation
The only category Bay Area MCs Zumbi (of Zion I) and the Grouch (of Living Legends) squeeze neatly into is "Decisively West Coast," what with their nonchalant pre-swagger and hella dope lingo.
Shabazz Palaces | Black Up
The musical reincarnation of Ishmael Butler, the elusive Seattle rapper who makes up one-third of the semi-popular '90s jazz-rap act Digable Planets under the name Butterfly, is a lot to unpack.
Pantha du Prince | XI Versions of Black Noise
Outright blandness is the worst sin in all of art.
Young Widows seek beauty and mortality in noise
It's not much of a leap to imagine Young Widows hanging out in a funeral home.
Greg Dulli keeps his peace in the Twilight Singers
One of the most widely circulated Afghan Whigs bootlegs, from our own Paradise in May 1994, has the iconic alt-rock foursome busting out a loose and rollicking version of New Order's "Regret."
Out: The Chris North Dream Quartet help christen the Haven in Jamaica Plain
With the Chris North Dream Quartet, singer/guitarist Chris North Alspach retains the sincere Celt-folk vocal inflection and distinctly New England–influenced lyrics of his other, Best Music Poll–nominated band, the Points North.
Julian Lynch | Terra
Although experimentation in music nowadays is certainly in vogue, there aren't many records that will straddle the line between commercial plausibility and healthy art-for-art's-sake like Julian Lynch's Terra.
From afar, Destry bring vintage allure to Boston
When Destry's Michelle DaRosa tells me she grew up watching musicals excessively, I find myself listening to her singing voice just to see what type of musical heroine she'd be.
Kode9 and the Spaceape | Black Sun
Kode9 is the most important electronic artist of the past five years.
Shinji Masuko | Woven Music
It's tempting to point to the recent tsunami in Japan as having a heavy cosmic connection with Shinji Masuko's first solo record, a full-immersion blackout of churning, oceanic drones and melodic eddies.
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Topics: CD Reviews , Music, Pharoahe Monch, Pharoahe Monch, More

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