Music » East Coast Music

Array

Release Date: 2002-03-26, Audio CD, Sony

Array

Limited Edition in cludes Exclusive Bonus Track "Book Of Judges". (1) The Resurrection Intro - featuring Showtyme, Mela Machinko, Lenesha Randolph and Candice Anderson (2) Free (3) Desire - featuring Showtyme (4) Push - featuring Showtyme, Mela Machinko and Tower Of Power (5) Welcome To The Terror Dome (6) What It Is (7) When The Gun Draws - featuring Mr. Porter (8) Let's Go - featuring Mela Machinko (9) Body Baby (10) Bar Tap - featuring Mela Machinko (11) Hold On - featuring Erykah Badu (12) So Good (13) Trilogy - featuring Mr. Porter, Dwele and Tone BONUS TRACK: (14) Book Of Judges

Seemingly growing more content with his outsider status with each new release, former Sony great white hype Garrett "G. Love" Dutton appears in no hurry to update his band's back-porch hip-hop-and-blues sound. On his fifth studio album with Special Sauce--bassist Jim Prescott and drummer Jeff Clemens--themes of positivity and spiritual satisfaction remain at the fore, while the laidback grooves sound more effortless than ever, particularly on the '70s-drenched title track and the tender "Sara's Song." There is a breezy nod to Bob Marley on the ska-inflected "Praise Up," and "Night of the Living Dead" features a fractured falsetto vocal, but major diversions are rare on Electric Mile, an album that is virtually interchangeable with the trio's self-titled 1994 debut. And that's no bad thing. --Jaan Uhelszki

Array

While many pale-faced rap crews follow paths blazed a decade ago by the Beastie Boys, Lordz of Brooklyn seem to have been conceived as an inner-city white-trash rival to the House of Pain gang. Where HOP insert Irish pride in slots usually reserved for Afrocentric rap, Lordz of Brooklyn look toward the Italian enclaves of their namesake borough. And in the proud tradition of HOP's questionable ethnic credibility, LOB are led by two brothers named McLeer--there doesn't seem to be a real paisano in the bunch. But hey, rap is like pro wrestling: the more real it claims to be, the more reason to doubt it. The Lordz grab a gimmick and milk it--no more, no less. While using the GoodFellas script as source material, LOB craft their image as Mom-loving, God-fearing, U.S.-flag-waving, union-dues-paying, blue-collar bad boys with a Mafia-like brotherhood code. In "American Made," the centerpiece of their debut album, All in the Family, they assert their identity with an effective (though thoroughly unfunky) country-rock riff and gruff raps like "I'm a Lord to the day that I die / Real man drives a Chevy, drinks a Bud when he's dry." Pool halls, card games, one-way trips to Coney Island--you get the idea. --Roni Sarig

Array

Release Date: 1989-11-17, Audio CD, Profile

Array