Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans

Pissed Jeans established themselves as a great throwback to the late '80s and early '90s with their two previous releases. 'King of Jeans' continues this same trend while at the same time expanding the palette of a band clearly indebted to others. Part of this comes from the continual progression of guitarist Bradley Fry. The sound of Pissed Jeans is anchored by a very lively rhythm section and vocalist Matt Korvette's performance. Fry on the other hand seems to prefer to embellish the group's sound rather than drive it which really has come to fruition on 'King of Jeans'. Guitar solos echoing No Trend, the building of distortion throughout 'Spent' Pissed Jeans have seemingly embraced the aspects of traditional rock and roll into their immensely untraditional sound.

Pissed Jeans' 'King of Jeans'

'Hope For Men' was a very lyrical album for how volatile the sound was. 'King of Jeans' is still just as lyrical, but gone are songs concerning issues as mundane as ice cream and Whole Foods. The topics have dissolved into even starker reflections of everyday life. 'Dream Smotherer' concerns the lack of sleep of its narrator, 'Spent' a seemingly typical day in Korvette's life. The presence of vocals has also reached its pinnacle with a more diverse take. Korvette has imbued his yells with a somewhat more melodic tone as is evident throughout the record especially 'Goodbye (Hair)'. More over bassist Randy Huth and drummer Sean McGuinness have propelled Pissed Jeans' previously sprawling sound into a more apt attack. Few tracks on the album dip over the 3-minute mark and tracks like 'She is Science Fiction' and 'Half Idiot' are a flurry of drums aided by slow droning bass lines. Pissed Jeans have polished up their sound as much as is seemingly possible and because of that they've crafted their finest record yet.

Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans (2009)

Lowercase - Kill the Lights

lowercase's kill the lights

I don't know much about Lowercase's history. This is noisy post-hardcore from the late '90s blending early Swans with the sounds Shellac or Unwound were playing with. Fantastic stuff. Vocals are really alt. rock inspired and the album definitely has a great sense of dynamics.

Lowercase - Kill the Lights (1997)

J Dilla - Jay Stay Paid

To a casual fan of hip-hop the name J-Dilla may not mean a lot. If you’re more interested in Anticon or Wu-Tang than the genre as a whole 'Jay Stay Paid' may not be a big deal. Change that. Like every genre hip-hop's gems are found underneath the rough and Dilla’s work puts him in the position of being the most influential and progressive producer in the last twenty years. His story is just as long and detailed as his career but to address that is a discredit to what 'Jay Stay Paid' represents. Jay Dee may be gone but his music continues to impress and expand itself to new audiences. Most of the tracks on this record are seemingly works in progress. The guest list fits perfectly with artists like DOOM, Havoc (Mobb Depp), and Black Thought all stepping into help create a darker and more diverse record.

jdilla

Jay Dee’s strength has always been his ability to create musically complex beats that work on both a basic and layered level. For example electronic artists like Flying Lotus continually sing the praises of Dilla for his constant attention to detail and musicality. His work with fellow Detroit group Frank-N-Dank saw him exploring usage of minimal effects and layers to create more to the point material. Dilla pretty much finessed this sound with 'Donuts'. 'Jay Stay Paid' attempts to explore that evolution though it is posthumous material. 'King', 'Mythsysizer', and 'In The Night/While You Slept (I Crept)' all focus on creating lush soundscapes in a hip-hop setting. ‘9th Caller’ mixes vintage guitar strokes over a pulsing beat. Dilla’s penchant for self styled strip club jams comes out in ‘CaDILLAc. ‘Spacecowboy vs. Bobble Head’ transitions itself through various sounds and finally closes out with a soulful finale. Jay Dee adapts equal parts of the Wu-Tang and New York sound into the more bass heavy Detroit style on ‘24K Rap’. Raekwon and Havoc both also appear on '24K Rap' which even adds to the strength of it. Other key vocal additions on the record are Blu on 'Smoke' and Black Thought on 'Reality TV'. While the majority of ‘Jay Stay Paid’ is instrumental this is clearly a hip-hop record and the addition of such high quality lyricists is welcomed. Mixing everything from Asian sounding melodies with soundclips of waves 'Coming Back' acts as a true definition of why Dilla will always remain the greatest of all time.

Is 'Jay Stay Paid' the most alarmingly original record of 2009? No, this is a collection of recycled material and sounds as such. Though subtle factors like J Dilla’s hero Pete Rock cutting the album and Illa J's appearance help it retain the artist’s respect. Similar to UGK's '4 Life' earlier this year Dilla's friends, family, and admirers have created a(nother) great tribute to one of hip-hop's great.