New Music Reviews - 12/6/2011 - The Roots, The Black Keys, T-Pain, and Mwahaha

The Roots Undun - The prolific and constantly working ?uestlove, Black Thought plus the rest of the Legendary Roots Crew find time to record their tenth studio album.  Unlike their album from last year with John Legend which featured new covers of soul and funk songs from the 60's and 70's, the band returns to its roots (no pun intended) with hard biting raps and modern R&B jams.  Unlike any of their previous albums, Undun is a concept album about the fictional life of a character named Redford Stephens, a kid from Philadelphia who becomes a part of the drug trade until his untimely death. 

The album opens with the short instrumental "Dun" (which, I don't think, is named in honor of me) before ceding way to "Sleep,"a well named track with a drowsy feel that makes for a slow but beguiling beginning to the album. The album starts to really take off at the third track, "One Time,"and continues with a constant stream of relevant and creative tracks until the end of the album where the band seems to lose its direction to a small degree on the last two tracks.  However, the album is crafted to such a precise degree that you are totally engrossed with every sound that proceeds that point that the weak ending is totally forgivable.  The biggest highlights  in that uninterrupted stream of goodness are the tracks "The Other Side" and "Lighthouse."

For a band that has already created some top notch albums over their career (Phrenology and Things Fall Apart coming to mind immediately), The Roots may have topped them all with Undun.  It is a beautifully imagined story being told by true masters of the hip-hop genre that prove, if their prolific releases hadn't already done so in the past, the band does more than just make music--they create works of art on a grand scale.

?uestlove again acts as the primary producer for the album and his vision is wonderfully portrayed in both the album layout and track choices in a disc that flows so smoothly from song to song.  Easily a late candidate for best album release of the year, Undun is an album that is not be missed.  Do yourself a favor and pick it up ASAP and pick one up for hip-hop loving relatives as well as it will be the only present from Santa this year that people will still be appreciating years later.

Score: 10/10
Song(s) to Sample: "One Time", "The Other Side" [sample it below] and "Lighthouse"

Mwahaha Mwhaha - Mwahaha is a four person electronic rock band from Oakland, CA and this self-titled release is their debut full-length album.  The band incorporates mellow, downtempo melodies buoyed by real drums and bass to create a sound that is on the more raw side of bands like LCD Soundsystem or TV On The Radio.  They are able to blend discordant sounds and instruments on tracks like "Rainbow Diamond" and somehow make coherent harmonies out of them.  It's a real testament to their experimental nature and how beauty can be created out of seemingly nothing.  Unfortunately, not every track showcases this ability as well as the first couple of songs as the album goes off the rails a bit in the second half.  While the release as a whole can definitely use some some additional polish, as a debut album, their ability to blend sounds to create credible songs is what I am most impressed with.

Score: 6/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Rainbow Diamond" and "Love"

T-Pain rEVOLVEr - Faheem Najm, better known by his stage name T-Pain, releases his fourth studio album.  Given the number of songs he's provided vocals for on other artist's records over the past couple of years, it's not surprising this album lists a great number of hip-hop artists lending a hand.  Most prominent are Lil' Wayne, Chris Brown, Lily Allen, Pitbull and Ne-Yo who each provide backup vocals or guest raps on individual tracks.  While I was definitely expecting the club-ready jams that can be found on this disc, the real eye openers were the slower songs like the melodic "Default Picture" and the simple but catchy "Mix'd Girl" which create added depth on the album as a whole.  As far as the club-ready songs, "It's Not You, It's Me (ft. Pitbull)" and "Turn All The Lights On (ft. Ne-Yo)" will not disappoint.  Not every track is a winner but the quality stays relatively consistent over the entire disc.  T-Pain won't win over any new fans with this release but his existing fans will find a lot to to fall in love with on rEVOLVEr.

Score: 7.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "It's Not You, It's Me" [sample it below] and "Default Picture"

The Black Keys El Camino - The Grammy-winning, blues-rock duo from Akron, Ohio fresh off their performance on SNL this past weekend release their seventh studio album.  Once again the two main members (Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney) are able to create a lush album whose songs traverse from guitar licks reminiscent of the best from the classic era of Rock n' Roll to a more modern, blues-rock amalgamation with apparent ease.  Although the blues aspect of their music is slightly toned down in comparison to their 2010 release, Brothers, and their albums that preceded it; its influences are still present on many of the band's tracks and that sound is only enhanced by the fast tempo guitar riffs that are prevalent on this album. In terms of pure enjoyment and in terms of keeping their feet to the pedal, El Camino ranks up there with their all time best, 2004's Rubber Factory.  A great followup disc for a band that only last year won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. 

Score: 9/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Lonely Boy" [sample it below], "Little Black Submarines" and "Run Right Back"