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 Strong Arm Steady
In Search of Stoney Jackson
Stones Throw | 2010
Which rapper or rap group wouldn’t be glad to receive a couple of hundred beats from a brilliant loop digger like Madlib to pick from for a new album? The Oxnard resident slash versatile production genius entered the game with the quirky and highly blunted beats of the Lootpack and Quasimoto LP’s and moved forward to visionary and hard-hitting productions alongside heavyweights like MF DOOM and J Dilla.
So how do the two MC’s of SAS match up with a producer of that reputation? Well, they make sure the focus stays on the production, which isn’t exactly a bad thing. Phil da Agony and Krondon are not bad when it comes to rhymes and flows, but they just aren’t able to hold the listener’s attention for the whole nine nor to keep the attention away from Madlib’s production. But it never gets really embarrassing, plus the two SAS-MC’s invited enough noteworthy guest-MC’s to avoid the album from getting boring. The most breathtaking appearance is probably by Little Brother-MC Phonte who steals the show with his honest reflection on life on the soulfull and uplifting basslines of 'Best of Times'. Except for Guilty Simpson and Talib Kweli, the other guests all hail from the West Coast underground, from where SAS emerged as well. Especially Planet Asia blesses the mic plenty of times and leaves the impression that he wouldn’t misfit as a permanent member of SAS. Ex-member Mitchy Slick on the other hand only collaborates on two tracks, which can be considered a dissappointment, given the fact that on those occasions he certainly comes correct with a sort of Jay-Z-swagger.
But as already mentioned, in particular the beats make this project worth checking out. In the first half of 'In Search of Stoney Jackson' Madlib laces the MC’s with soulfull and easy rolling productions which comes apparent in the ’70 blaxpoitation-atmosphere on 'Chittlins & Pepsi'. Or in the Motown-inspired love-anthem 'New Love', with a funky hook by Krondon reminiscent of Devin the Dude. In the second half of the album the drift gets slighty grimier. Madlib seems to realize that bugged-out and complex soundscapes as heard on the Quasimoto LP’s don’t perfectly fit the style of SAS and their guests, so he managed to keep it rather simple (even though 'simple' is probably seldom an adjective able to describe any of his productions). But still, a beat like on 'Ambassadors' is effective through its raw and dirty sound without pretending to be complex or abstract.
As a whole 'In Search of Stoney Jackson' is a collection of songs that truly captures the West Coast underground vibe. Madlib keeps it 'street' most of the time and the performing MC’s, though hardly outshining the production, bring some nice flows and California-swagger to the table.
Links:
stones throw records
SAS @ Youtube
SAS @ Myspace
posted by: peejay | 03-14-2010 | rated: phat |
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| RATES |
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10 |
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9-9.5 |
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7.5-8.5 |
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6.5-7.5 |
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5.5-6.5 |
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4-5.5
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0-4
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