CD Reviews

Apathy | Honkey Kong

Dirty Version (2011)

By CHRIS FARAONE | September 14, 2011

3.5 Stars

Apathy spent too much time on major-label shelves to release garbage. Since being liberated from Atlantic's shackles, the Connecticut MC and universal lyrical legend has made up for lost rhyme with a fuck-ton of impressive projects, and Honkey Kong is no exception. As proven on Eastern Philosophy (2006) and on tracks here like "Check to Check," Apathy is capable of murdering with few, if any, co-defendants. But he's also smart enough to recognize how well he plays with others, and in this case has assembled a guest roster of the few hardcore acrobats who can hang with his blue-collar brand of bombast and braggadocio. Fellow Honkey Kong kings Vinnie Paz, Slaine, and Ill Bill help light the fuse from the get-go on back-to-back-to-back bangers, while eternal Apathy collaborator Esoteric does the trick twice. Ap and Celph Titled crack a unique out-of-character DJ Premier beat on "Stop What Ya Doin"; Action Bronson shows up for a romantic throwback; Statik Selektah rocks the sweetest soul sample of the year on the album's hottest highlight, "It's Only Hip-Hop." As always, Apathy wins on account of the metaphors he spatters across tracks like so much blood, sweat, and tears. Still, associates like these, when aligned properly, make for something much brighter than a badass solo outing.

The other white beat
In the home of Slaine, Esoteric, Sullee, Bomshot, Lyrical, and about 10,000 other pale MCs who can hang with brothers of all shades and styles, the notion of prolific whiteboys is hardly novel.
Trans Am | What Day Is It Tonight? Trans Am Live, 1993 - 2008
Trans Am are distillers of guilty pleasures, mixing fat AOR riffs with sleazy electronic accents and a propulsive attitude typically reserved for arcade soundtracks. What Day Is It Tonight? covers the DC-area band’s 20-year history with high-quality, high-energy live cuts taken from their many tours.
Various Artists | Where the Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965 - 1968
More than three years in the making, the most recent installment of Rhino's legendary archival garage-rock series offers an amazingly comprehensive excavation of an absurdly fertile scene.
Various Artists | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966–1970
Girl-group records are great and everything, yet the countless compilations out there were becoming a little hit-or-miss until 2005, when the great Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found box set finally gave this diverse genre a proper taxonomy.
Various Artists | Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010
The notion that regional musical flavors exist independently in American cities is quickly becoming an archaic truism, seeing as how the world really is a stage these days, at least in the digital sense.
Bearstronaut | Broken Handclaps
There's a distinct absence of wildlife or astronauts on Lowell electronica quartet Bearstronaut's latest release.
Ape & Undu | Jaw & Order
This is not your typical bi-racial indie-rap duo with a whiteboy who rips and a tandem token black guy who holds the honky's jockstrap.
Avi Buffalo | Avi Buffalo
Look, I get it: the last thing we need right now is yet another band who can be described as “sun-baked,” “reverb-soaked,” or even just “psychedelic.” But Avi Buffalo (I know! An animal name to boot!) are worth your attention for a few reasons.
Review: Brandon Flowers | Flamingo
Brandon Flowers has gone on record saying he brought the songs on Flamingo to his fellow bandmates for the next Killers album and was given the brush-off.
Review: Kevin Dunn | No Great Lost: Songs 1979–1985
Casa Nueva Industries (2010)
Review: Crocodiles | Sleep Forever
With remarkable swiftness, Crocodiles tick off all the key characteristics of a band in the thriving lo-fi indie/punk/garage scene.
Less

Topics: CD Reviews , Music, CD reviews, Apathy, More

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

Where To Follow Me
Talking Politics | March 24, 2013 at 11:09 AM

Mo Takes His Turn
March 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM

[Q&A] KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko on art, Columbine and having balls
On The Download | March 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM

See this film series: The Belmont World Film Series @ Studio Cinema in Belmont
Outside The Frame | March 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM

See this film: This is Spinal Tap [with post-film talk by expert from Acoustical Society of America] @ the Coolidge
March 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

ARTICLES BY CHRIS FARAONE

THE TRIALS OF NADIA NAFFE | March 04, 2013
Young, attractive, ambitious, conservative, and black, Nadia Naffe should have been a right-wing operative’s dream.

HIP-HOP TRIVIA GROWS UP | February 26, 2013
In their fourth year of operation, the Hip-Hop Trivia squad is finally taking the night (somewhat) seriously.

OCCUPY DENIED DAY IN COURT | February 22, 2013
It took more than a year for Suffolk County prosecutors to come to their senses.

CZARFACE SOARS ABOVE THE CLOUDS | February 11, 2013
This week 7LES and Inspectah Deck drop Czarface , a full-length work of adventurous genius revolving around a metal-clad protagonist who feeds on destruction.

THE BPD ADDS INSULT TO INJURY | February 05, 2013
At times, this kind of decision makes you wonder whether the BPD is saving its best awards for officers who've been involved in the death of civilians.