We're New Here
[XL / Young Turks; 2011]
GENRE: I think this one is pretty self-explanatory: old school poet meets new age beat generator
LISTEN: You can stream the entire album below
"Culture, they say, is a two-way street," but I'm not sure Langston Hughes could have envisioned it as the meeting between a spoken word legend from the past and a sultry beat conductor from what seems to be "the future of music." After all, what does the 61 year-old American ex-con with a raspy voice, love of Langston Hughes and progressively leaning poetry have in common with a young musician and producer from London who was a superstar by the time he was 20? We're New Here, which finds Smith remixing Heron's successful comeback album I'm New Here, undoubtedly, is the best answer to this question, and listening to the album yourself will lead you to your own conclusions. While Smith adorns Heron's raspy, spoken word vocals with flourishes of what he used to cultivate The XX's sultry sound, he ventures further into drum & bass territory and steers away from anything I would call sexy. I have mixed feelings about the album. While I loved each artist's album separately, there's something about the collaboration that seems to take away from what was beautiful about each. Heron's hollow vocals were somehow more impressive when allowed to speak for themselves, and Smith's production was somehow more enjoyable when it was accompanied by hushed vocals and minimal guitar. The album has obvious gems (closer "I'll Take Care of You"), and others that seem a clunky combination of the two artist's styles ("Running"). Thanks to Guardian.co.uk for the full album stream below.
-February 23, 2011
"Culture, they say, is a two-way street," but I'm not sure Langston Hughes could have envisioned it as the meeting between a spoken word legend from the past and a sultry beat conductor from what seems to be "the future of music." After all, what does the 61 year-old American ex-con with a raspy voice, love of Langston Hughes and progressively leaning poetry have in common with a young musician and producer from London who was a superstar by the time he was 20? We're New Here, which finds Smith remixing Heron's successful comeback album I'm New Here, undoubtedly, is the best answer to this question, and listening to the album yourself will lead you to your own conclusions. While Smith adorns Heron's raspy, spoken word vocals with flourishes of what he used to cultivate The XX's sultry sound, he ventures further into drum & bass territory and steers away from anything I would call sexy. I have mixed feelings about the album. While I loved each artist's album separately, there's something about the collaboration that seems to take away from what was beautiful about each. Heron's hollow vocals were somehow more impressive when allowed to speak for themselves, and Smith's production was somehow more enjoyable when it was accompanied by hushed vocals and minimal guitar. The album has obvious gems (closer "I'll Take Care of You"), and others that seem a clunky combination of the two artist's styles ("Running"). Thanks to Guardian.co.uk for the full album stream below.
-February 23, 2011
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