LushLife
Rapster Records
(2009)

There are skeptics who state that hip hop is dead. Well, Lushlife is here to counter that point, raising sonic mutiny in his second album, Cassette City. After Lushlife’s debut anthem “West Sounds,” a noteworthy mashup of Kanye West’s The College Drop Out with The Beach Boy’s Pet Sounds, the Philly-bred MC/multi-instrumentalist/producer returns with Cassette City, a classically driven, ’90s east coast hip hop prowess that defies the limitations placed on hip hop artists.

With a formidable background in music, Lushlife injects a hybridized free form of jazz balladries, organic, body-rocking beats and pop affections that encompass the ubiquity of music. Cassette City hosts a number of guests like Ariel Pink, and Greg Saunier of Deerhoof which reminds listeners that hip hop musicians do not always fit within a specific binary. Unlike mainstream battle rappers, whose craftsmanship rests mainly upon image and street cred, Lushlife opens himself to vulnerability. Reminiscent of the composer David Axelrod, Lushlife’s arrangements in “Daylight into Me” and “Until the Sun Dies” are mind bending tracks that drown themselves in a myriad of piercing instruments and layered sequences.

The tracks “Meridian Sound” [Parts One, Two and Three] stream along the atmospheric-pop sound of Grizzly Bear, the piano laden, conscious lyricism of Kanye and the soft, beachy harmonies of Brian Wilson. Although his rhyming style sets him apart from previous Philly MCs like Schoolly D, his delivery is sharp, crossing the divide between J-5’s deep, sepulchral tones and Lupe Fiasco’s articulated composition, which is simulated in “Another World of Paradise,” featuring Camp Lo. His experimentation with a folksy guitar in “The Songbird Athletic” measures well after quickly transitioning into a lively tempo which carries the remaining track into an underground, head nodding flow. And “The Fall of the Light Brigade” is a punchy, old school number that catapults into a melismatic rap narrative. Lushlife is as diversified and honest as they come. He blends elements from agit-prop hip hop to zippy, glockenspiel sounds of psychedelic rock, without compromising himself or the music he creates. If you are looking for an album that cascades to the indiscriminate rhythm of life’s beat, then indulge yourself in Cassette City.

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http://www.myspace.com/lushlifemedia

via Sarah Wolfson, 1 July 2009 8:30am | |