An interesting thing happened to me the other day while I was at work-- I was setting up a TV for a lady and somehow we got started on the subject of music, and apparently she does music/poetry reviews for a living. At any rate, I recommended she check out some Regina Spektor since she seemed to have a very indie-pop taste, and Regina is good stuff all around regardless of what music you like.
At some point she asked me what my preferences were and I let her know that I lean towards the metal and whatnot, and she said that she had a "heavy metal" CD that she needed to review, but since she wasn't generally into the genre she didn't feel like she could give it a real listen. She asked me to take the CD--which was apparently made by her friend's son--and give it a listen and tell her what I thought.
Firstly, the CD is most definitely NOT metal, haha. It's rap, but, interestingly enough, it's well done, especially considering that this is from a local Missouri artist. And while I generally would not consider myself an expert on the rap genre, I enjoy my share of Xzibit every now and then, and rap metal has always been cool with me, so I figured I'd give the CD a real shot even though it was straight rap. After about two full-length listens, here are my thoughts.
Review: Noodles - The Best You Never Heard
The first few tracks on the CD had their share of stereotyped rap songs about drinking and/or clubbing, etc. To be expected from the genre, I suppose, and it was off putting to start with. However, the style caught my interest and made me want to look passed that and give the album a shot.
This is underground rap... somewhat akin to the music I respect in Metalcore and the underground of that scene. I wouldn't consider a radio band like Disturbed to be a good representation of Metal, not by a long shot, so why should I be so quick to write this rap off just because I think 50 Cent is a worthless individual? And so I embarked on my journey of exploration, delving further into the disc.
What I found was a disc with a few surprisingly profound and intelligent tracks on it, commenting on religion, politics, and our culture, without resorting to "YO, FUCK GEORGE BUSH, YEAH". There are loads of extremely well written lines, clearly and carefully crafted by an obviously intelligent, politically active individual. It's more than just that, though, Noodles uses the album as an outlet to to bash on popular rap culture as well, which is what really made me respect the work.
The best example of this is the track, "It's like this". The lyrics for the track are absolutely amazing, going over just about everything that you could want to gripe at about America and our stupidity for the last several years. If you enjoy ragging on our greedy government and society, this song ought to be right up your alley. He especially hits on consumerism in the rap sub-culture.
Download the song, Noodles - It's Like This (From the intro to the album: "...when this is discovered, pass it along, bootleg it, upload the tracks and the songs..." I love independent artists
)
"The Radio and Television've got us tricked today, they influence your mind with the shit they play. It's about getting you to buy all the shit they say and getting you to buy all the shit they make. ... The marketing and product placement is so in your face, you don't even notice the control that they took away. They use music as an avenue to youth today to control consumerism in the hugest way. They get a bunch of whack rappers with no truth to say to influence your opinions on what's cool today. So you purchase everything that they do and say with the hard earned money that you used to save. It's like one big commercial, music today.
So, as a test to separate all the truth from fake, the next CD that you buy, let the music play. When the album's all done, here's what you say, "Did the record I just heard help to soothe my pain? Or did the record I just heard groove and entertain? Did the record I just heard make me use my brain? Or did it make me want to buy some new shoes today? Or did it make me wanna drive a new Escalade?" But you don't have to sit by and let them do these things, we can take back the music and I'll show you the way."
The last half of the track has a spoken word delivery, done by a talented female artist, sadly I do not know her name. She does a lot of talking about third world countries and how we basically crap on them as a nation, and it's every bit as good as Noodle's portion of the song.
Other notable tracks are, "The Alien Track"--which begins with a line from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and comments on God and religion--and "Broken Whiskey Bottle"--a song about a close friend's struggle with substance abuse.
To summarize, in general, the delivery of the material is intelligent and far less stereotyped than your typical rap selections, with exception to a few tracks. The tempo of it all is far less predictable, but not so abnormal as to disrupt a general feeling of flow. There isn't an over abundance of poorly used rhymes, generally the lyrics do a great job of surprising you with the delivery, and I found that to be refreshing. The beats and music in the background aren't over the top or particularly unique, but I think that was intended, because this is very lyrically driven music-- it's about the message more than the sound... or rather, the message
is the sound.
The only thing I'm left wondering is why an artist with such obvious talent finds it necessary to make tracks like, "It's Time to Start Drinking!".
Overall, a very pleasant surprise for a CD I randomly got from a customer at work. A uniquely entertaining listen with some unpleasant road bumps along the way.
