Edan – Making Planets (featuring Mr. Lif)
Edan - I See Colours
Edan - Funky Voltron
Edan - Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme
Edan - Beauty
Edan - Torture Chamber (featuring Percee P) - just added 4/20/05
I’m having a hard time describing the new Edan album that I just picked up so I’ll let Nathan Rabin at The Onion A.V. Club (Hideaway Secret: this is my never-fail spot to get reviews. Anything The Onion, and specifically Nathan Rabin, hypes, I buy. He’s got a great perspective, and he’s not a hater.)
Just as America and the Soviet Union divided Europe into the Warsaw Pact and NATO following World War II, hip-hop's forward-looking retro enthusiasts have been divvying up the genre's past among themselves. Feel-good nostalgists Jurassic 5 and Ugly Duckling both rep the old school, Madlib and 9th Wonder resurrected the Native Tongues vibe, and a skinny white rapper, producer, and DJ named Edan pledges allegiance to the golden age when lightning-fast flows were all the rage, and the dopest MCs boasted personalities as big and flashy as their gold chains. Edan could easily have spent the rest of his career mastering his little rap niche, but like a true child of Afrika Bambaataa, he's made a cosmic artistic leap and fused together decades, styles, genres, and races with his remarkable sophomore effort, Beauty And The Beat.
The album cover says it all. A riot of paisley and homemade graphic design, it depicts the faces of some of Edan's heroes (Ice Cube, KRS-One, LL Cool J and the like) crudely outfitted with groovy hairstyles straight out of the age of Aquarius. Yes, with Beauty And The Beat, Edan has tuned in, turned on, and dropped out. On tracks like "I See Colours," "Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme," and "Beauty," Edan combines the elaborate, super-scientific rhyme style of the late '80s with psychedelic rock production and vivid surrealistic imagery. In the process, he's created the grooviest fusion to hit hip-hop since Danger Mouse introduced Jay-Z to the Beatles and Bubba Sparxxx combined bluegrass with Timbaland's future funk on Deliverance.
The album is short but concise and solid throughout. I recommend. My favorite track is “Making Planets” w/ Mr. Lif. If I had a white 72 cadillac to go for a cruise on a lunar highway, this is the song that would be playing on the stereo. "I See Colours" is tripped-out brilliance. The other day, I called Gab's album psychadelic hip hop, but it' s nothing compared to this one. And, it's fresh fresh fresh!
Edan was just included in The Onion’s “The New What’s Next Music Issue”. Dig it.
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13 comments:
This was the first of Edan's stuff that I'd actually listened to. But, all it took was a glowing review from The Onion, and I had my grubby lil paws all over it.
Probably my favorite hip hop album since my man Mos' "New Danger". Why did that album get panned? I feel like I'm the only person who liked it.
Expect to see some Mos up in this piece shortly...
The 4th is by far the best time to be back around the ol hometown, The Saw, as I lovingly refer to it. Look for me to be "taking a nap" in my car @ Clem's once again. Count me in.
All major holidays go better with the american mastodon around, whaddya say, bro?
Can I get drunk and drive back home to Chicago at 3 in the morning? Hmmm...don't live in Chicago anymore.
Could be dicey.
More Edan please.
AM, I have a couch in Chicago that's all yours...
Even dicier.
Hey "anonymous", I'm gonna be in Chicago for a show on Saturday, hit me up on the email tip
Really Koopa?
You aren't afraid to stay on my couch?
I'm an urban camper and I pride myself on being able to sleep anywhere (AM & Buster can attest). Your couch doesn't scare me.
See what a good friend I am, AM?
Koopa obviously doesn't know me that well, does he?
Be sure to tell us all about the dance club you guys go to.
We got up to Chi-town late...and drunk. And when I say drunk, I mean 2000 ml (as the nalgene bottle fills) of bombay and tonic/redbull consumed (on an empty stomach) before even setting foot on Chicago soil. And, when I say "we", I don't mean me exactly...except for the late part...I'm always late, even though had it been just me, I would've been early.
And, don't go see Particle or Mickey Hart or any variation thereof unless you are under some intense sedatives and are interested in becoming more sedated and/or sleepy. This show reminded me why I haven't gone to shows like this in many years.
I 'm very thankful for the free ticket, but...
"Anonymous": My bad, it just didn't work out. It was a simple twist of fate, and 2000 ml of Bombay Sapphire G&T that kept us apart...and kept us from breaking it down on dancefloors across Chicago. My apologies.
Shorties all over Chi-town are crying their eyes out right now, Koopa, and that includes yours truly, with my backless dress, three-inch heels, and hot pink weave, alone at Excalibur on a Saturday night.
Ruthless, dawg, for real.
And I had my freshly-pressed, continental-to-the-bone, white-on-white pimpstripe suit with matching hat...Excalibur wouldn't have known what to do w/ us...
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