IDM Mailing Archive

quoted 1 line The only French rap that matters, as every student who has ever taken

>> > The only French rap that matters, as every student who has ever taken

French > in high school and gotten those shitty thin magazines about French culture, > is the only and only MC Solaar. but he sucks shit, unfortunately.<< Care to qualify that one? I believe that Solaar has one of the smoothest and most rhythmically facile flows in hip-hop, and I mean all hip hop, in any language. Granted, the backing tracks are at times a bit heavy on the fromage (kinda fuzaky cheezy), but you can't question the man's dextrous flow. Admittedly, I don't quite know what the lyrics are about, but it's a fun game attempting to translate. Plus, I like the sound of the French language, so maybe that makes it appealing to me. I've heard that there is an emergent Japanese hip-hop scene - can anyone suggest something good in this category? De La Soul's "Long Island Wildin" has some crazy-wack Japanese guest rapping that is fun, but would certainly wear thin after more than two minutes. - Fred Church bigkumquat@aol.com

For most Solaar albums I can take 'em or leave 'em, but "Prose Combat" is an excellent LP (production + vocals) and I don't mind his raps at all... As far as the Japanese go, that De La Soul "Long Island Wildin" track features Takagi Khan, somehow/somewhat associated with the Major Force label that got a compilation on Mo' Wax a couple years ago. The set always looked nice in the stores -- I just had the limited-edition five-LP out of its wraps a week ago -- but I've never forked over for it. Anyone have reviews or recommendations? .John. Also related to great hip-hop ---> Finally, the 1st Mantronix reissue ("The Album")...A+ production, B- raps...

quoted 4 lines I believe that Solaar has one of the smoothest and most rhythmically facile

> I believe that Solaar has one of the smoothest and most rhythmically facile > flows in hip-hop, and I mean all hip hop, in any language. Granted, the > backing tracks are at times a bit heavy on the fromage (kinda fuzaky cheezy), > but you can't question the man's dextrous flow.

oh, he's got flow. but his lyrics are quite cheesy, & his backing tracks, as you've noticed, are not just a bit dull. his first few albums at least had some originality, but starting from after "prose combat" it went down the drain, & i believe that most french hip-hop happening nowadays kicks solaar's ass with 2 feet up in the air. that said, said french hip-hop tends to follow the exact same formulae as u.s. hip-hop: music for would-be gangsters & their would-be big-breasted girlfriends in their would-be convertible cadillac. all this to say that solaar is more or less the equivalent to <insert the name of whatever classic rapper who hasn't really done anything worthwhile lately> for the u.s.: he "started it", true, but let's just say he's not very interesting nowadays, at least from what i heard. -- david turgeon at http://www.notype.com

quoted 6 lines I believe that Solaar has one of the smoothest and most rhythmically

>I believe that Solaar has one of the smoothest and most rhythmically > >facile flows in hip-hop, and I mean all hip hop, in any language. > >Granted, the backing tracks are at times a bit heavy on the fromage > >kinda fuzaky cheezy), but you can't question the man's dextrous flow. >Admittedly, I don't quite know what the lyrics are about, but it's a >fun >game attempting to translate.

I've noticed in the few Solaar works that I've heard that word games are exactly what he's about. He tends to take common phrases and expressions and then turn them around to fit the song. This in turn seems to fit pretty well with his style, his flow. He's all right, but I definitely wouldn't call him great. Le Gooster is much better. Lauren _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

quoted 7 lines I've heard that there is an emergent Japanese hip-hop scene - can anyone

>I've heard that there is an emergent Japanese hip-hop scene - can anyone >suggest something good in this category? De La Soul's "Long Island Wildin" >has some crazy-wack Japanese guest rapping that is fun, but would certainly >wear thin after more than two minutes. > >- Fred Church > bigkumquat@aol.com

The Soup Disk label specializes in leftfield japanese electronic music, including some hip hop/trip hop. dj vadim has collaborated with some of its artists. Going back a bit, Mo Wax reissued a 2-CD boxed set of major force material in the mid 90s, but it's mostly instrumental. there's dj krush, of course. back in the early 90s, a group named audio sports released a killer album called the era of glittering gas. it features eye from boredoms and the now-ascendant nobukazu takemura. the album's probably hopelessly out of print and was available only on import anyway, so good luck finding it. send me a cassette and i can tape it for you if you like. dave segal segal@altpress.com

I'm not too sure about japanese rap, but as far as japanese DJs and hip hop goes, what about Dj Krush? I'm sure I've heard something that sounded like japanese rap on a few of his songs. And on the topic of japanese artists (but off the topic of IDM and Hip Hop for the most part) is Towa Tei's older album any good? I really liked Technova, but that's all I heard off his old album, and his new one (Sound Museum) is pretty much total crap. Paelon np: Dj Krush - Only The Strong Suirvive (Feat Cl Smooth) ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

I've got a triple 12" promo pack of Underworld's "Push Upstairs" up for grabs on ebay. It includes two mixes which I believe to be exclusive to this set (or at least unavailable on any commercial release of the single that I've seen). To place a bid, visit this URL: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110205617 This is the first in what will likely be a whole shitload of records and discs (some IDM friendly, some not so much) that I'll be selling and/or auctioning off over the next few weeks & months. Way too much music, not enough space, so some of it has gotta go. Greg

quoted 1 line I'm not too sure about japanese rap, but as far as japanese DJs and hip

> I'm not too sure about japanese rap, but as far as japanese DJs and hip

hop

quoted 2 lines goes, what about Dj Krush? I'm sure I've heard something that sounded like

> goes, what about Dj Krush? I'm sure I've heard something that sounded like > japanese rap on a few of his songs.

yeah, dj krush has at least one, i think several japanese rappers on 'milight', track 3 sticks out for me. it's really interesting, it is definitely worth a listen just for that (the disc is a great concept album though, many great tracks and predictions on the future of hip hop). and if you don't know japanese it's even better, you can pick out little phrases like 'kon ban wa' and wonder as to their context ;) -sean - sean whalen . web application developer . union pacific lucidity . www.mp3.com/lucidity . http://www.gjd.net/~swhalen