Handsome Boy Modeling School - White People REVIEW
SL's Alternative Album of the Year
As I conclude my look back at my arbitrary musical year, I figured that I might as well throw one more look back review.
Brought forth from the collaboration of notable producers Prince Paul and Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, White People is the LU's selection for alternative album of the year. This is the second album for the HBMS, and really an amazing effort that just shows supreme ability to put together tracks that transcend simple genres
Handsome Boy Modeling School - White People REVIEW: A+
Some would be inclined to lump this CD with the indy hip hop genre or the producer genre. I dissent from this categorization, as this production cabal has put together the most amazing, diverse sounding set of tracks that touch on so many different genres ... the listener is just left with a shirtload of good music
That's the point about this album. Yes, there are traditional hip hop tracks, but there's such a great diversity of tracks here with all manner of sounds and grooves from different genres.
The great tracks on this one include a great 70's-80s sounding soulful ballad, "Greatest Mistake". The finest track may be the great Jamaican dub style/hip hop/alty mix called "The World's Gone Mad". This is an album with tremendous depth and the quality of all the tracks is really out of this world. There is a really funky one featuring Mike Patton called "Are You Down With It?", and a nice Sade styled smoky groove in "I've Been Thinking".
There are some tracks that are tailored for particular artists' styles, like "Breakdown" in the Jack Johnson style and "Rock And Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) in the Linkin Park style. And going back to the roots, as you would expect, the hip hop tracks are exceptional as well
And the cameos on this one, wow, why not unroll a list of who is hip and who needs to be looked at again ... the Mars Volta, Pharrell, Jack Johnson, Del the Funky Homosapien, Mike Patton (ex-Faith No More), Alex Kapranos (from Franz Ferdinand), Mike and Chester of Linkin Park, jazz crooner Jamie Cullum, John Oates (yes, he of 80s pop supergroup), Julee Cruise, Rahzel (the human beat box from The Roots), among others
It is quite funny because I had read recently that with iT that the hip hop short skit on albums was dying. Well, White People's skits run with the Handsome Boy Modeling School theme, and come up with the most fresh and hilarious skits that I have heard in a long time -- particularly funny are the Guido Sarducci opener and the hygiene one with Tim Meadows.
This one is really the new standard for so-called producer side project albums. Dan and Del may have left the Gorillaz to do HBMS stuff, as the Gz went with Danger Mouse for Demon Days ... but don't cry for The Automator and Prince Paul, this one is a love letter for those who like well produced music
Very highly recommended ... and our alternative music selection of the year because it is an alternative to one genre music CDs