Friday, August 24, 2007

Hey There Madlib...Give Us Something Funky To Listen To



The one and only Madlib brings us Vol.3 and Vol.4 of the Beat Konducta Series. 34 tracks, say what!? Yesh mon! 34 tracks on this joint, but it is only about 1 hour of listening. First off, I just want to give Madlib props on this one because of the title. Hiphop is getting so regionalized in the United States these days. Cats are all about reppin' their hood, which is cool, no problem, but we live in a global economy. Y'all remember when the term "globalization" was bein' spit by every newscaster after the turn of the century. Well this is Madlib's way of letting us know hiphop is worldwide y'all! His samples are coming striaght out of Bollywood. One of my favorite quotes from Ghostface sums this album up, "(His) G is to futuristic for y'all niggas"! By the time the masses see where he is coming from, he'll be doing Beat Konducta Vol.5 and Vol.6 Beat Konducta in the Congo, sampling Soukous guitar riffs from Kinshasa's T.P. OK Jazz Band, or on some Tshala Muana type stuff.
Beat Konducta In India is like eating dim sum, tapas, or delectable appetizers. Straight to the deliciousness. One of my favorite Indian restaurants in S.F. is Tikka Masala. When I roll there I get like 3 types of naan, chicken tikka masala, the rice, the fresh veggies, the goat dish, the yogurt sauce, na what I mean? This album is like eating at a traditional Indian restaurant. Your ears are the naan and these beats are all the different flavors you are going to dip into. So what I am saying is this is a listeners feast of sound!
One of my favorites is Indian Deli, the woodwind sample is so clean! The drums are gritty and the hats crash in all the right places. Experience shows on this whole album. When cats are stagnating trying to be what they are not. The Beat Konducta opens his mind and lets the creativity flow. Like on More Rice, the strings are epic sounding due to the simplicity of the sample. The soundpieces are expertly blended and you got to dig in the crates to come up with that kind of music. This is musicians music, ya dig? The vibe that Accordian for Raj gives is like riding on a moped thru Delhi, although I haven't been there, I seent it on T.V., a bouncing, rolling track; the sound doesn't come from one spot it surrounds. But I have to say that Piano Garden is my favorite. It has all the ingridents I love in a beat. Keys, strings, and evenly placed drum beats. The kick isn't super boom, but its got the perfect amount of bap! Overall Beat Konducta In India gets 4 out of 5 Conquering Lions on the Truth and Rights scale of I-ration! Big ups to Madlib for keeping it funky and new.
The album is to be released Aug.28, 2007
Check out www.stonesthrow.com or purchase the album TODAY on iTunes