Search - Material :: Intonarumori

Laswell takes on rap . . .

10/23/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Material's stuff is always interesting. And, like other albums Bill Laswell has worked on that I've heard, this album has its moments of stunning perfection and a couple of tracks that either don't seem to belong or are just plain bad. This album is 90% excellent, with deeply satisfying beats and top notch rapping. Track 9 is the "out of place" track. Coming off an essentially acapella Killah Priest track talking about the street life, we have a sweet female voice singing about summer days and sleeping in the grass. Hey Bill! She ain't rappin. The bad track comes right after this, with Nature Boy just making a lot of noise. All in all, this album is great because it's Bill Laswell, a great experimenter, working with some really fantastic artists. Five stars with those two tracks removed. Definitely worth getting, for hip hop and Material fans alike."

Snow Lori and the seven (or so) rapmen

Rahsaka | LRSY, F | 03/03/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am writing this just to antagonize the precedent reviewer's point of wiew on one point. The track from Lori Carson may be out of this mood, but it is a cool track, ant it may help some reluctant listeners to appreciate the remaining tracks.And the track "No guts no galaxy" is soooo reminiscent of "Men in black" that it is hilarious.Overall, I expected something like "The third power" but was not disappointed that this release went more into rap than the previous effort from Bill Laswell.It is always a challenge to like what you would, by prejudice (consciously or not), reject;)"

Very nice indeed!

crown of indica | saint paul,mn,usa | 05/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"fans of intelligent hip-hop need to take a look into this supremely avante-garde album.laswell takes the genre into the future with this cd by placing steady beats to rap over in the most unusual of forms.the killah priest track with the tablas is revolutionary and amazing!!! the flavor flav track is at once funny,intelligent and aware.get it if you like rap with a working cerebrum."