(BBE)
The Beat Generation is a series from BBE records where producers are given complete freedom create whatever music they want. Its catalog is strong, featuring inventive albums from the likes of Jay Dee, Will-I-Am, Pete Rock, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Marley Marl. Now DJ Spinna, the production half of rap duo Jigmastas, gets his shot to keep the tradition alive with the sixth release in the series, Here To There. The result is an eclectic gem that seamlessly spans across the genres of funk, jazz, R&B and hip-hop.
The album starts off with \Alfonso's Thang,"" a hypnotic track featuring Alfonso Greer telling the listener that ""you knew it had to be funky."" Saying this song is funky is an understatement, as the banging drums and baseline provide the perfect foundation for the slick organ samples.
Spinna then goes for the classic hip-hop sound on songs like ""Drive"" and ""Tune You Out."" Featuring up-and-comers Shadowman and Rise respectively, each song is a casual head-nodder that showcases new talent. The stand out track of the bunch, though, is ""Hold,"" where Apani B. and Jean Grae seamlessly spit back and forth over a hard hitting guitar loop.
Of course, no Beat Generation album would be complete without showcasing the talent and creativity of the producer. On instrumentals such as ""All Up In It,"" ""Galactic Soul"" and ""Rock (Unplugged),"" Spinna effortlessly blends heaps of different sounds together to create rich landscapes that are upbeat and soulful.
Continuing his versatility, DJ Spinna even wets his beak in R&B. The vocals on these tracks go with the beats so well that they seem like another instrument in Spinna's arsenal. The best example of this is ""Idols"" featuring Vinia Mojica. The beat switches between casual and jazzy to beautiful and upbeat while Vinia keeps pace flawlessly.
There is not a bad track on the album and since it clocks in at over 76 minutes, it is a perfect CD with which to relax and just get lost in it. With Spinna successfully dabbling in numerous areas of music, there should be something for just about everyone in Here To There. It proves itself to be worthy of being seen in the same light as any other BBE release to date and continues to show why the Beat Generation series is easily the most consistent source of good hip-hop and hip-hop related music today.
(Tooth and Nail Records)
While front man Dave Gimenez and drummer Jacob Marshall had always intended on performing together, the better half of the five-man Mae stumbled into band as it attempted to record its first album. Gimenez and Marshall had booked recording time in the home studio of their soon-to-be-bassist Mark Padgett in February 2001. By that December, Mae had promoted two of the session musicians to full-time band members and had embarked on their first tour.
Within the next year the Norfolk, Virginia quintet had been signed to Tooth and Nail Records. Filled with rookie errors and lukewarm tracks that could have been polished into gems, Mae's first effort, Destination: Beautiful, shows a band that clearly has more talent than the album lets on.
Just lighter than Toad the Wet Sprocket, Mae sports an adult alternative sound with a punk undertone, paying attention to writing full melodies, as opposed to the flimsy Third Eye Blind chord progressions that have populated the same genre.
Mae's greatest successes come from the almost comical '50s rock-style harmonized choruses, with Gimenez's adolescent voice placed over his bandmates.
Unfortunately, as far as their first album, Mae's inexperience shows. Songs that build up tension for a chorus squander the listeners' release by misplacing the gratifying notes. While no song is particularly great or particularly poor, much of the band's work comes off sounding more mediocre than it should have. Mae needs to learn how to present songs in more interesting ways than having each instrument play the same part in the same way throughout a song.
Destination: Beautiful, recorded and produced by the band, arranges its songs in a needlessly cumbersome manor. Destination: Beautiful's highlight, ""Runaway,"" is placed immediately after a mediocre song which so closely resembles the better song's chord progression and pulsing guitar work that it is difficult to tell that two separate tracks exist rather than one that goes on far too long. The problems on Destination: Beautiful never seem beyond repair, but still cause Mae to come off as unimpressive.
Destination: Beautiful is perhaps the best album name for Mae's first album. While they failed on their debut, Mae could become a great band, using Destination: Beautiful as a first step towards something better.
--Joe Uchill
