I know that discussions about De La Soul are decidedly non-313 at face value, but I think I've found the 313 tie-in given that Chaka Khan collaborates on AOI. I've only heard the album twice so far, and a number of things impress me:
a) It's yet another album in a totally different style. More than anyone else in hip hop they continually evolve musically, and that evolution is always explicit in their lyrics. I think that's why I love them so much. b) The contrast to Stakes Is High (probably my favorite hip hop album) is stark. Stakes Is High sounded to me like the most intentionally low-tech-well-produced effort to date. AOI is produced to the nth. Both were very finished, but the root sounds on the new album are so new, and the last one was a bit rougher, both to great effect. So... to get back to the 313 tie in: De La Soul does a pretty damn cool collabloration with Chaka Khan (what an unlikely resurrection)! I only consider this a 313 tie in due to the number of times she's cited as an early influence to Detroit techno. What does everyone else think? And to get back to my reasons why I think the album's so cool: The collaborations in the first half are *very* energetic, giving it enough power to contend with pop hip hop, although I would fight tooth and nail to differentiate the two. The second half makes that crystal clear. This is what we expect from the flow of a De La Soul album, but in the musical/lyrical context of the new effort. Sorry for the long loosely off-topic post. I'm going through 313 input withdrawl, since my turntables are out of action while I'm in the middle of a move to Baltimore (sitting in the hotel now, trying to find a place this weekend) and I have a buttload of vinyl I haven't heard yet that I'm dieing to listen to: Isolee, Tresor 8, Theo Parrish on trackmode, St. Germain, and many others. In the mean time I'm trying to make it through August on a handful of new cds that are thoroughly preoccupying me: The new Yo La Tengo, older GBV, Sea and Cake, AOI and the Francois K mix. It's great music but HELP! Thankfully I have RA at work again, so any great RA recommendations are more than welcome. I'm about to catch up on about a years worth of RA I missed out on. Feel like I just got out of jail (again) :) Tristan __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/
