click to enlarge

Kanye Clones

2 stars

The Black Eyed Peas
The E.N.D
Interscope/Universal

On election night ’09, when The Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am was standing in the CNN studios via hologram, I could see right through him. Oddly enough, on his group’s latest and fifth record, The E.N.D., I feel like I’m left in the same position. I can see right through will.i.am. I can see what’s inside his head. And if one were to split open his brain and see a rainbow-colored pie chart, it would be dominated by one large section (maybe about 80 percent to be exact) that simply says, “Rip off Kanye.” The other 20? “How can I get Fergie to rap better?”

What stands out strikingly about The E.N.D. is the amount that will.i.am has used the Auto-Tune during production. After the much maligned and yammered on about 808s & Heartbreak by Kanye West, it felt like hip-hop might let go of T-Pain’s favorite tool for a while. Yet, The Black Eyed Peas, possibly not knowing when to stop, have continued to flog a dead horse even after the large success of the Auto-Tune lampoon from SNL dudes The Lonely Island on “I’m On a Boat.” Fergie sums up the situation on the first track “Boom Boom Pow” when she sings, “I’m so 2008 / You’re so 2000 late.” That’s great and all, Fergie Ferg, except for the fact that we are in 2009 and Auto-Tune is done and killed by Yeezy and T-Pain.

Sounding like they’ve gone out on a spaceship, The Black Eyed Peas have added to the sparseness of 808s. Yet, it would be impossible for this record to sound anywhere near as minimal considering there can be up to four voices on one track at one particular time. That's not even including the tinny horns, heavy bass and synths that will.i.am completely fills the background up with on songs like “Alive,” “Missing You” and “Meet Me Halfway.” So, while Kanye sounds alone in a space vaccum, The Black Eyed Peas seem to have brought an entire party. Yet, despite some sonic differences, The E.N.D will still have many wondering where Kanye West's ass ends and will.i.am’s head begins.

Providing slight relief from the Kanye 101 course, will.i.am uses the duration of this record to teach that most of these tracks were esentially meant for the next Fergie solo record. The first minute of “Imma Be,” some of “Meet Me Halfway” and “Missing You” will excite the crowd that lives for a redux version of “My Humps,” but ultimately leaves others half aroused.

The Black Eyed Peas are impossible to understand. Fair enough. Moving from being a predominantly original and positive hip-hop group on their first two records to being fodder for teenage boy fantasies and ripping off Kanye from Elephunk on, the group has been something of a paradox ever since they hit it big with their ’03 smash “Where is the Love?” Are these songs meant to be powerful messages of strength or the background to grinding at seventh grade dances all over the world? The Black Eyes Peas go for the latter on The E.N.D. — ERIC ALLEN

---

Space Race

4 stars

 
Deastro
Moondagger
Ghostly International

Moondagger feels so human. For all its synth-wrung furls and precise rhythms pulsing from that preconceived-computer-perfected genre of electro-pop, it is given a fleshy tremulous pound, a closing of the eyes, an exhilarating let-go, with a lyrical parade of penetrating questions — of love, of the future, of metaphysics, of feeling. It sings of cosmic intangibles, far off galaxies, lifeforms mythic and extinct, and mixes in with trembling, sweat-beaded stares into bathroom mirrors, broken hearts, the longing for closeness. It’s as though the album were a study in the tumult of emotions that can follow from what seems like the insignificant questioning of an individual, of himself and of all he sees.

Many songs display the often-spotlighted Chabot’s bandmates (drummer Jeff Supina, bassist Brian Connelly and guitarist Marc Smak) — a pensive polyrhythm slides into a danceable shimmy, the bass booms and hums along under playful chimes while the guitar gets downright funky (or even surfy) at points. Chabot is a lucid songwriter — using music to help himself understand myriad subjects. And his view, his understanding, is going to transform within the innards of each album. — JEFF MILO

---

3 stars

Sonic Youth
The Eternal
Matador Records

The Eternal is Sonic Youth’s 16th album in nearly 30 years, but their lineup and attitude have both stayed surprisingly stable. Both the grinding opener “Sacred Trickster” and the ten-minute final track “Massage the History” feature typically peculiar vocals from Kim Gordon. The latter roams dispassionately, closing the album with Gordon wresting out the line, “I want you to suck my neck.” Every Sonic Youth album is spotty, and The Eternal is no exception. They win points for consistency if nothing else — after recording for nearly three decades, their music still positively radiates boredom. — EMMA WILBERT

---

4½ stars

Akron/Family
Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free
Dead Oceans

Akron/Family weave an explosive rock style wrapped in mysticism, tribal exertions and propulsive polyrhythms, with tasty garnishes from any decade of rock, brash brass, soft strings, and that Talking Heads-feeling tight, snaky style as an American art/rock observance of world music intrigue. “Everyone is Guilty” has funk meeting disco, smattered over tribal rhythms, swathing in Harrison via Abbey Road-style guitar riff waterfalls and poignant string stabs — which morph into soft shimmering Caribbean pop on “River” that sends Vampire Weekend back to school. — JEFF MILO

---

in my ear
The Prime Ministers

Releasing their brand new album this week, Compromiser, Detroit natives The Prime Ministers have been an upstanding powerpop quartet since first founding ten years ago. They are still on a magical kick of blasting out Big Star-esque songs and having fun all along the way. Head out to their release show June 20 at The Crofoot’s Pike Room, pick up their new disc and then check out their suggested listening below:

The Cure
The Head on the Door
INXS
Kick
Chris Richards & the Subtractions
Sad Sounds of the Summer
Glasvegas
Glasvegas
White Lies
To Lose My Life
Duran Duran
Rio
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
The National
Boxer
Van Halen
5150
The Prime Ministers
Compromiser

© Copyright by RealDetroitWeekly.com