Sounds

Today’s Sounds: Blu & Exile

by Darcy MacDonald

There is nothing lazier in music journalism than comparative analysis. You know the type: “This is better than II but not as good as III.”
In this case, that would be elephant-in-a-room-a-vision. The MC/producer team’s 2007 debut LP, Below the Heavens, entered the chamber with a humble 3,000-copy run and soared to top-shelf status on word of mouth and digital do-wrongery, becoming probably the most classic rap album no one actually owns a copy of — including, as of early 2011, Exile himself.

Record:

Blu & Exile, Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them (Fat Beats)

 
There is nothing lazier in music journalism than comparative analysis. You know the type: “This is better than II but not as good as III.”

In this case, that would be elephant-in-a-room-a-vision. The MC/producer team’s 2007 debut LP, Below the Heavens, entered the chamber with a humble 3,000-copy run and soared to top-shelf status on word of mouth and digital do-wrongery, becoming probably the most classic rap album no one actually owns a copy of — including, as of early 2011, Exile himself.

There are two major reasons this intel matters now. Give Me My Flowers first saw the light of day last year with a free, very rough-draft excursion, notable at the time primarily because the pair had amicably parted ways and were more or less certain they would never chuck the deuce. Gussied up now with mastering, scratching and a few other neat tricks, people who still care about such matters will be happy to know it is widely available in stores.

That addresses the superficial, but what does this shit sound like?

Whether reverently or scornfully, BTH has to be acknowledged as the pinnacle of the old-school backpacker hip hop aesthetic. The innate contradictions of young man Blu’s painful honesty at 22, delivered pristinely over beats steeped in the generational style the elder Ex grew up with, came across as the best album Common or Gang Starr never made.

The rap nerd elite went mental, and the problem with them is that they fear change. GMMFWICSST will in all likelihood piss people off, as has much of Blu’s solo material since ’07. So a note to listeners: if you feel like you are trying to like this one, you probably don’t. There are no standout “Blu Collar Work” or “Dancin’ in the Rain”-type epic rap songs. If you’re stuck on some neverending quest for the next young Nas, you should probably go check out Joey Bada$$, with all respect to that bright young talent.

Young men grow up, and older men either stagnate or keep trying new things. Blu & Exile will never take you back below the heavens, but if you still have a sense of smell, you’ll know the new stuff ain’t no stink-weed.

By any name, these guys will remain amazing at what they do.

Track:

Umberto, “The Investigation”

Italian horror, anyone? This is the first track by Nevada’s Matt Hill, of Expo 70, from his debut LP Night Has a Thousand Screams (Rock Action, Nov. 20).
 

 

Video:

Trust, “Dressed for Space”

Graver-lite? Whatever you call this neon-beat, black-planet music (as heard on the Toronto band’s debut LP TRST), you can dance to it, even if you must do the Vacuum Cleaner or the Apple Picker. Just don’t face the wall while you’re doing it.
 

Posted in Sounds

by Darcy MacDonald

Contributor
Darcy MacDonald has been with Cult MTL since day one, a decade ago. Which means today, he’s a middle-aged white guy (albeit one more interested in other people’s ideas than in his own). He was previously a columnist and reporter for Montreal Mirror, and has also created content (FKA “written”) for RBMA, Noisey, Montreal Gazette, The National Post and probably some other great places he’s forgotten about. Music, culture, community and miscellaneous questions in search of answers all come across his desk, sooner or later.

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