 by Steve McPherson
 Black Mountain
Druganaut
Jagujaguwar
By now, you may know that Black Mountain has been on tour opening for Coldplay, and you may also know that it hasn’t gone so well. I’d like to say that you know it’s a mismatch from the moment their disc comes on, but really, you only begin to get an inkling a minute into opener “Druganaut (extended)” when you realize that they’ve been playing the same essentially one-chord riff the whole time. Then, four minutes in, vocals actually come in. Most Coldplay songs are in the showers lathering up by that point, but Black Mountain hasn’t even gotten going.
Soundwise, they’re pure throwbacks: the fuzz guitars and mellow jazziness
recall Spirit while singer Stephen McBean’s vocals remind you of how good
the Beta Band sounded when they first hit. The cover of the record, with its
silver-on-black color scheme, mimics T. Rex’s Electric Warrior
and so does the sound, although it’s way more expansive. If the Mars Volta
is prog-rock on acid, this might be prog-rock after a thick hit. It’s
appealing stuff, and the occasional female vocal and saxophone solo bring enough
different colors to the proceedings to keep them interesting for 20 of the EP’s
24 minutes, even if there’s nothing to pump your fist to, raise a lighter
during or accompany a tender break-up on “The O.C.”
DJ Shadow
Endtroducing: Deluxe Edition
Universal/Island
 The
question with any deluxe re-issue is: Is it worth buying this album again just
for some throwaway bonus tracks and supposedly better sound? I’m a sucker
for this kind of stuff, so I usually go ahead and do it, but I’m going
to have to say that this one is definitely worth it. DJ Shadow’s landmark
album still wows, and given that it was recorded on an eight-track home studio,
a nice remastering has been long past due. Aside from the banging-er lows and
clearer highs, the biggest difference is that you can actually understand some
of the obscure vocal samples on the tracks. The initial press for this disc
billed him as the Jimi Hendrix of the turntables and that’s not at all
unfair; there might be more dexterous or facile turntablists out there, but
there’s nothing that lives up to this level of creativity when it comes
to cut-and-paste. This album redefined what a DJ album could be: careful listening
reveals a wealth of subtle touches and a fuller appreciation of how complexly-structured
songs like “Stem/Long Stem” and “Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain”
are. Add in a second disc that as nearly as possible replicates the running
order of the original with alternate, remix and work-in-progress tracks—Cut
Chemist’s “The Number Song (Party Mix)” and Gift of Gab’s
original vocal on “Midnight in a Perfect World (Gab Mix)” are standouts—and
you’ve got a re-issue that’s worth your hard-earned skrilla.
 Nada
Surf
The Weight is a Gift
Barsuk Records
From the opening moments of leadoff track “Concrete Bed,” there’s
little doubt that Nada Surf has completely jettisoned any hangover from their
odious hit “Popular.” If 2003’s Let Go was an exercise
in re-branding that made them critical darlings in a comeback on par with the
2004 Red Sox, then The Weight is a Gift is the sound of settling, in
that good, Death Cab for Cutie kind of way. The everyday strain of dealing with
reality vs. appearance and the little ups and downs is the leitmotif here, with
standout tracks “Do It Again” wondering “Maybe this weight
was a gift/ like I had to see what I could lift” and “Blankest Year”
announcing “I had the blankest year/ I saw life turn into a TV show …
The person I knew/ I didn’t really know.” Every listener out there
will find his or her own reasons to identify with the content, but it’s
the hooks that will keep you humming these tunes and pressing rewind. Elements
of Matthew Sweet’s charm bubble to the surface, as do some of the hushed
airiness of Sunny Day Real Estate’s more contemplative moments. I myself
keep jumping back to “What Is Your Secret” every time I’m
in the car. Its chorus (“Our movies don’t play much anymore/ The
actress was fired”) works on so many levels: the idea of memories as cinema
that you avoid revisiting because whoever it was who played the person you thought
you knew has been canned is tough enough to render with explanation, much less
with a couplet. Add that to the ultimate in urban isolation/comfort (“Thank
god that life is so long/ and the city’s so big”) and you’ve
got something that actually deserves to be popular.
Boom Bap Project
Reprogram
Rhymesayers Entertainment
 A
lot has already been made of Rhymesayers’ efforts to move beyond the Twin
Cities, first signing the unbelievably amazing MF Doom and now releasing Reprogram
by Seattle’s Boom Bap Project. At least they have an eye for talent. It’s
hard to say what makes a hip-hop producer the next hot thing; Timbaland’s
skittery beats and Kanye’s hyper-speed soul have made them household names,
while Jay Dee’s work with Slum Village has gotten him props, but not mainstream
recognition. Jake One might not have an immediately identifiable hook to his
beats, but his work on I Self Devine’s solo debut was sterling and with
his own group here, he drops some fantastically jazzy backing tracks for Karim
and Destro to stretch their legs over, recalling the aforementioned SV and Dilated
Peoples. Their voices follow in the tradition of one monotone guy plus one more
helium-voiced guy, which is obviously more happenstance than masterplan, but
it works to their advantage by keeping timbres variable. Guest turns by Gift
of Gab and Lifesavas enliven the proceedings further, although the standout
tracks are “Get Up, Get Up” with its slick Wes Montgomery-style
guitar sample, darkly simmering piano and spacious Meters-esque drums and “Followin’
Formulas” and its critical beatdown of copycats. “That’s a
really nice throwback jersey you got on. And an oversized hat. Why don’t
you bend the bill?” asks Destro in the spoken intro. All apologies to
Sir Mix-A-Lot, but Seattle has never been known for its hip-hop scene, but that’s
just one more thing it has in common with the Twin Cities (substitute rain for
cold and you’ve got the reason Seattle’s another slept-on city)
so maybe this Pacific Northwest-Upper Midwest connection will finally bring
respect to both cities. ||
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