Reader Feedback:Blood of Abraham Review Misleading

I received an email today from "MK" who questioned my comments about the band Blood of Abraham's debut album Future Profits as discussed within my review of their new album Eyedollartree. Below you'll find his letter. My only response would be that while he does have vaild arguments, I was tying the racism argument to the fact that from the time of the Black Arts movement (late 60s, early 70s) prominent black writers often resorted to racism against Jews, and I was aware that it was that racism that "Niggas and Jews" was calling out. I've heard the song, and we've come to different conclusions on it (I wasn't reviewing that album, I was simply trying to provide context for what I found to be better about the new album). Either way, everyone's opinions are important, which is why I'm printing the letter. I only took down the ability to comment on this site directly because of spam.

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After reading your review, I was quite disappointed by the claims you make about the first album, "Future Profits."

I would like to question the following of what you wrote:

"Twelve years ago NWA-member Easy-E discovered rappers Benyad and Mazik, who were performing in Los Angeles as Blood of Abraham. Becoming their mentor, Easy-E helped them record 1993's Future Profits, which received mixed reviews due to the band's attacks on the rap culture for what the two perceived as anti-Semitism. Blood for Abraham missed the irony evident when two white rappers write a song called "Niggaz and Jews (Some Say Kikes)" in which they perpetuated the worst stereotypes about black people to stop black people from stereotyping them."

and

"Perhaps with the death of their mentor they found a better way of voicing their displeasure with the state of race relations in America -- that it isn't possible to bring differing sides together when hate is used to decry hate."

I do not believe you fully understood the message of the 1993 album. It was indeed evident that Mazik and Benyad represented their Jewish roots on this album. However, the anti-Semitism present in the rap world did not serve as the driving force behind the album. "Future Profits" was not about simply attacking back after having been attacked. If you were aware, "Niggaz and Jewz" was not a track meant to stop black people from stereotyping Jews. If you had listened to the track, you would take note that not only is the voice of an anti-Semitic man sampled (in the beginning of the track), but a racist man's voice is also sample at a point in the track.

Furthermore, I highly doubt your claims about the irony of white guys writing a song called "Niggaz and Jewz" are accurate. In fact, of the minimal guests featured on the album, 2 of those guests artists were featured on track 13, "Niggaz and Jewz." These two guest artists were two black people, Willonex of ATBAN Klann (Will.I.Am of Black Eyed Peas), and Eazy-E himself. I am sure that Mazik and Benyad were doing "Niggaz and Jewz" completely indepedently, and that they wrote the verses for Will.I.Am and Eazy-E to spit simply disrespecting themselves as they said the lyrics. Also, between Mazik and Benyad, the word "nigga" is only said once throughout the whole album, on that one track with Eazy-E and Will.I.Am.

Additionally, you must consider the time at which this album was recorded and released. 1993 was definitely a much more liberal time than 2005 is. The PC police were not nearly as prevalent then as they are now, which indirectly causes many people to form certain judgements concerning things that are not so PC. Also, the use of the word may have been an understood use between BOA and Eazy-E and company. If you want to make claims about the unsanctioned use of that word by white rappers, then I suggest you check out Necro (ironically also a Jew), one of the most insane (not necessarily meaning skilled or talented, but just simply mentally crazy) MCs in the rap world today.

Benyad and Mazik are not racist. Another track on the album, "Stick To Your Own Kind" (Featuring Yomo), stresses brotherhood between blacks and Jews. In an interview I once read, Mazik was quoted as saying that some of the first hip hop he ever listened to was Public Enemy. Now if you can tell me how Blood of Abraham used hate on their first album, while signed to the largest black independent music label at the time, I invite you to please do so.

They have considerably toned down their controversy from 1993 to 2000/2005, and you definitely grasp what they are doing on "Eyedollatree," at least in my opinion. However, not to be a bitch, I wanted to bring some of your words to your attention because I felt they were not as unbiased as I had read your reviews usually are.

Shalam Aleikhem,
MK (Mjkess@aol.com)

Jamie Cullum - "Catching Tales"(Verve, 2005) * * * *Saul Williams - "Saul Williams"(Red Ink, 2004) * * * 1/2

See the article as it ran in the Daily News:
http://jonathansanders.0catch.com/cullumwilliams.bmp

File This Under ...

... ALBUMS WITH "GRAMMY" WRITTEN ALL OVER THEM
Jamie Cullum - "Catching Tales" (Verve, 2005) * * * *

Jamie Cullum is reinvigorating the art of jazz pop. Blending the art pop sounds of Rufus Wainwright with the crooning style of Harry Connick, Jr., he's crafted a sophomore album that crosses more (sonic) borders than the Red Cross! The album is loaded with potential addictive substances. "London Skies" opens with an intricate guitar melody that provides the perfect base for Cullum's gravelly vocals, leading up to a hook that's undeniable. "Nothing I Do" is a hilarious lounge act with lyrics I cannot print here; suffice it to say the banter between this couple is priceless. "Mind Trick" has a sultry r&b-infused vibe that leads into a chorus that would sound right at home on an Al Green record. And the best is saved for last on "7 Days To Change Your Life," another bare-bones piano lounge track on which Cullum plays a TV infomercial announcer hawking a cure-all to life's ills. "Send me your money and I'll change your life," he sings in a spot-on parody. A vocal chameleon, Cullum's album is impossible to fully describe, you've really got to hear it for yourself. Catching Tales is an album that will take many repeat listens to fully reveal its brilliance, but rest assured it's worth the time and effort.



... ALBUMS YOU HAVEN'T HEARD BUT SHOULD
Saul Williams - "Saul Williams" (2004, Red Ink) * * * 1/2

Saul Williams is perhaps best-known for his debut with KRS-One as one of the performers in the film "Slam." But his blend of beat-hop poetry continues to impress on his second solo album on the Red Ink label. This isn't your everyday hip hop experience. Williams is an angry voice in a ghetto-saturated rap wasteland, and he's wanting to take his genre back for the street poets who invented it. "I've got a list of demands written on the palm of my hand," he yells. "I ball my fist so you will know where I stand ... we're living hand to mouth!" The music inventively blends traditional rap beats with live punk rock instrumentation, Williams' attempt to inject his music with raw power. Some of the more notable tracks, however, are the most sparse. "Black Student Movement" features a raw percussive backdrop as Williams speaks on the state of race relations today, particularly regarding the war on Iraq: "Uncle Sam signs you up. Benefits ... and a gun. Now tell me where my niggas at?" The album is a stunningly solid change of pace from the gang warfare norm. Too bad no one's heard it.

Reader Feedback:"Dark New Day" Review In Bad Taste

Reader Comment: Your review of Dark New Day's debut album is not only malicious but plain bad journalism. I hope you stay in school and learn something about constructive criticism. Did you not learn in kindergarten that if you can't find something nice to say, don't say anything at all? As a journalism student, at least by now you should have learned how to make a point without resorting to hatefulness. I've read several excellent and glowing reviews of this album; I've also read a few not so positive ones; yours is honestly the most narrow-minded and uninformed opinion I've been made aware of. You obviously have never met anyone in the band and know very little if anything about the positive effect their music has had, and will continue to have, on thousands of devoted fans, some as far away as Iraq and South America. I'm sure that's a whole lot more than anything you've ever written has done for anyone. Your time would be better spent critiquing my poor use of the English language rather than bad mouthing this group of extremely talented musicians. Next time spend some time actually researching what people are saying, who truly enjoy that type of music, before you post your callous judgment for all to view. Isn't that what real journalism is all about???

Dismayed
BEDISBABY@aol.com

Response: It never ceases to amaze me how some reviews continue to draw angry feedback months after they've been penned. Of course what can be even more interesting is what many people seem to call out as "good" versus "bad" journalism. For future reference, my mission as a music critic is to provide readers with my subjective opinion on why he or she should or should not buy a new album. My job is to have listened to the album. I attempt to back up my opinion through research into the band's history, but that does not require me to know the band members personally; nor does it mean I shouldn't say anything harsh or negative just because a band has legions of adoring fans. All bands have legions of adoring fans, even the ones who play to their families in living rooms. In the end, good music rises to the top -- and I think most of my readers will agree.

Sorry for the slow updates

I've recently been able to add my last two columns to this site after weeks of difficulties with Blogger's system (for that length of time I'd been told my blog no longer existed). Everything should be up to date now. I've also, unfortunately, had to disable comments due to some misuse (spam and flaming) and Blogger's recent inability to allow me to delete comments cluttering the review pages. If you have a legitimate comment, feel free to email me at kroessman(at)gmail(dot)com. Any suggestions can be emailed to that address as well -- though please remember that reviews are subjective. Just because I gave a bad review to an artist you enjoy does not mean I'm wrong for hating the album or that you're wrong for liking the album. I'm always glad to discuss disagreements, but I won't respond to angry flame mail. General rule: if you refer to me as "stupid" or have to resort to swearing to make your point, please don't waste my email space.

Thanks for reading and listening!

Jonathan.

The Greenhornes - "East Grand Blues"(V2 Records, 2005) * * *

This is music for those of us who still enjoy albums by the Beatles, the Kinks and the Yardbirds. Cincinnati's The Greenhornes are a band well-rooted in the music of their past, but they put enough of a twist on the tracks from East Grand Blues to carve out an artistic niche of their own.
While you may not have heard of them yet, the band has released three albums of material since forming in 1996. Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence (drums and guitars) worked with Loretta Lynn as the rhythm section for her band on the album Van Lear Rose, and the band has toured with the White Stripes as recently as August of this year, and have written material with Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Kim Deal of The Pixies.

That's quite a pedigree, and it shows clearly on their five track EP East Grand Blues. The band clearly exhibits a varying sense of style, ranging their sound considerably considering how short this EP is. "I'm Going Away" starts the album out in three-four rhythm, then leads into a very Beatlesesque harmonic intro, in the vein of "Ticket To Ride" or "A Hard Day's Night."

The second track -- "Shelter of Your Arms" -- uses a three-chord progression built on a simple bass line and ample percussion to channel The Kinks, particularly when Craig Fox slams you with the chorus: "Don't you walk away with your love!" It's such a simple infectious effective melodic structure, you'll be humming it for hours.

The strongest track on the album, however, may well be the last. "Shine Like The Sun" comes back full circle with a bossa nova melody structured around a latin electric guitar line and a hint of flute. Fox's vocals take on the affectations of "Yellow Submarine"-era Ringo Star, his vocals lending so perfectly with the rest of the band to make a song that is both a high quality homage and a solid original piece of ear-catching brit-pop.

If you're looking for a local band with the talent to become an international sensation, The Greenhornes aren't likely to disappoint. Their music puts a twist on sixties-era brit-pop to create music that sounds both familiar and original at the same time. While at times the band treads a good bit past the line that separates tribute from outright copying their influences, it's hard to find fault with a band that sounds this comfortable. Considering the range of their outside projects coupled with the band's prolific yet varied songwriting, every road points to this band having a long successful career.

Tori Amos - "Auditorium Theatre, Chicago IL 4/15/05"(Sony, 2005) * *

It would appear that the days of the great live album have come and gone.

Our generation has grown up in the era of jam bands, an era in which it is more desirable to be able to have fifty versions of a Phish or Dave Matthews stage show than to hear something like "Live Rust" from Neil Young and Crazy Horse, or "Live at Leeds" from The Who.

Back in 2003 Pearl Jam humped out seventy-two double disc concert recordings. Based on what is available on Tori Amos's "Auditorium Theatre" performance encapsulated herein, as well as the other two disc tapings available only from online retailers, Tori wants to head down that same road.

Don't worry, she's not cashing in -- or so you'll believe if you swallow the explanation given on her official website (www.toriamos.com). Her argument is that fans have been paying too much for terrible bootlegs over the years, which makes her planned six show tour anthology a novel idea.

"Hey," one might say. "I saw that Chicago show, and I want to own it forever, so paying $13.99 for a two disc set seems the perfect plan!" But Amos isn't marketing it like that. Instead, she's hoping that avid fans will buy all six sets, for which she'll reward them with a collector's case and special album art.

Considering that there are few differences in set-lists or in the actual performances themselves from set to set, this comes down to an artist hoping fans will pay $82 for twelve discs when a single comprehensive concert performance might have sufficed.

Considered on its own merits, the Chicago release isn't terrible, though it is far from impressive. Tori Amos has always been an eclectic performer, and her studio albums are a testament to her undeniable creativity and strong song-craft. But this two-hour recording, featuring Tori and her piano alone, grows tedious when listened to in one sitting.

Many of the songs, such as "Space Dog," demand a deeper full-band arrangement. On this release the track is crammed midway through the album and is given a drawn out eight minute performance that sucks all the punch out of the song. And the first disc starts out so slowly it's hard not to fall asleep listening. That's not a good thing coming from what is supposed to have been a supercharged live atmosphere.

That said, there are high notes. Amos's performance of "Mother" -- which was one of the best tracks off her debut Little Earthquakes -- is an absolutely sublime piano-and-vocals track that expands on the original to create an impressive live artifact. And her cover of Jim Croce's "Operator" is proof that Amos is an expert when it comes to breaking down other people's music into its barest elements.

As a "must have" live album, Auditorium Theatre Chicago IL 4/15/05 misses the mark. If you attended the show in April this might be worth buying as a concert memento, but for the rest of us it may be better to let it pass quietly by.

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This album and the rest of the Tori Bootleg series is available for purchase at www.toribootlegs.com or through online music distributors including Napster, Real Rhapsody, I-tunes and Wal-Mart Online.