Jane's Addiction | The Great Escape Artist

CD Reviews

Random Axe | Random Axe

Duck Down (2011)

By CHRIS FARAONE | July 12, 2011

3.5 Stars

It's no wonder that it takes a 10-ton Uzi to get rap fans psyched about posse cuts these days. MCs collaborate with rabbit-like indiscretion, often for the wrong reasons, and in turn yield flatulent orgies that amount to little more than cliché rhyme buffets (see: any DJ Khaled mixtape). Yet the mere announcement of Random Axe — comprising Brooklyn's Sean Price and Detroit threats Black Milk and Guilty Simpson — got heads paying attention. They won't be disappointed. Though the Random Axe effort is relatively high-profile, these three conjure one another's grimiest gusto. Milk is the MVP; as the album's sole beatmaker, he pays aesthetic homage to Madlib and J Dilla's Champion Sound. At the same time, whether intentional or not, the electric "Japhy Joe" summons the cross-continental vibe of Dr. Dre's "East Coast West Coast Killas." Lyrically, Milk hangs champ-style alongside these two Tysons — who kick lazy rhymes from time to time, but for the most part swing merciless punchlines that are equal parts mirth and mayhem. Like Price says on "The Karate Kid," "This will never be mainstream/It make you sell crack, bust gats, and blaze green."

RANDOM AXE + SMIF N WESSUN + J THE S | Church, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston | August 13 @ 7 pm | $20 | 18+ | 617.236.7600

Active Child | You Are All I See
Pat Grossi used to be a choirboy, which is not surprising at all, given that his full-length debut under the Active Child moniker sounds like it was cut in some sort of dimly lit, hallowed hall under the cover of night.
A Place to Bury Strangers | Onwards to the Wall
Onwards to the Wall clocks in at 16 minutes and 35 seconds, and it could shatter into smithereens at any moment.
Hospitality | Hospitality
On their homonymous debut, Hospitality sound like 800 different trendy bands at once (from Twin Sister to Tennis to TV on the Radio), so if it's pure originality you're after, you've come to the wrong department.
Liars | WIXIW
The sixth full-length from Brooklyn band Liars is an album in the sense that it's been recorded, has a release date, and is worth a review. But with so much improperly used space and so few tangible ideas, the result doesn't feel like an actual album as much as it does a decent demo.
Eli ''Paperboy'' Reed | Come and Get It!
Local boy Eli "Paperboy" Reed isn't so local anymore.
At home with Sharon Van Etten
Sharon Van Etten is peeling an orange in her South Brooklyn apartment.
Cloud Nothings | Attack on Memory
With Attack on Memory , the third full-length from Cleveland-based Cloud Nothings, 20-year-old frontman Dylan Baldi approaches new, drastically darker material with the same empty-bottle angst that made his previous releases so appealing.
You Me at Six | Sinners Never Sleep
Sinners Never Sleep is a transitional album, though such efforts rarely bode as well for the future as this does.
Imperial Teen | Feel the Sound
Like its title, fifth album Feel the Sound is as generic as doubters have probably always assumed — they sound both relaxed and exhausted.
Brite Futures | Dark Past
A few years ago, the cutesy teens in Natalie Portman's Shaved Head slid out of Seattle on the hot pink shoulders of robo-bounce kinda-hit "Me + Ur Daughter" and the cheap intrigue of a ridiculous moniker.
Air | Le Voyage Dans La Lune
It was inevitable that Air would one day be asked to soundtrack a colorized version of an iconic 1902 silent French film about moon exploration, right? There's the French thing, the moon thing, the kitsch-cool factor.
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