Alone Together

by Karriem Riggins

Karriem Riggins is one of those artists whose names I've always kept an eye out for, yet have always found difficult to find.  It amazes me that this is his first album, despite his having spent years in the music industry, playing drums and producing.

He bridges the worlds of jazz and hip-hop effortlessly, although it is his hip-hop work that has always caught my eye, especially since he's worked with people like J Dilla, The Roots, Erykah Badu, and Madlib.

Alone Together is a collection of 34 instrumental tracks that he produced, mostly using an MPC 3000 or 5000.  As expected, these tracks a terrific, as Riggins marries his two musical disciplines into a series of short tracks that highlight his beat-making skills.  Riggins is an artist who deserves more recognition, and my hope is that this album will lead to more production work for him, as his blend of Detroit hip-hop with jazz is something I'd like to hear more of, and hear more people spit over.

There is, of course, a Dilla tribute track at the end of the disk, and that is fitting, as Dilla's influence is all over this album.

Madlib Medicine Show No. 11 - Low Budget High Fi Music

by Madlib

So much of the Madlib Medicine Show took Madlib away from his hip-hop roots, and while I would never complain about an artist branching out, it's nice to see him return to form with this dirty hip-hop mix featuring all new compositions that he produced.

This disc has twenty-eight tracks, and features a vast array of the usual artists Madlib works with, including Oh No (together they are The Professionals), Roc C, Guilty Simpson, AG, Frank Nitt, Strong Arm Steady, Karriem Riggins (together they are Supreme Team), MED, and J Dilla (who produced what has to be the last Jaylib track).

The vocal tracks are interspersed between some nice 'Loop Digga' instrumental tracks, and we have the usual array of sampled conversations and comedy snippets, including a much too long piece featuring Soul Bra and Doctor Dick'em, which isn't all that funny the first time it's heard, and becomes progressively more irritating on each subsequent listen.

In all though, this is a very good mix of music, as Madlib once again makes some boring MCs (Guilty, MED, Roc C) sound great, and helps some terrific artists (Riggins, Oh No) become even better.

Timeless: Suite For Ma Dukes

arranged by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson

Alright, so I love Dilla, but somehow this project escaped me.  I got the first, four-track EP that Miguel Atwood-Ferguson put together with Carlos Nino, also called Suite For Ma Dukes, and thought it was lovely, and I knew that this concert had been held back in 2009, but the fact that this cd/dvd combo had been released never penetrated my consciousness until just recently. 

What we have here are fifteen tracks of a 60-piece orchestra playing some of Dilla's greatest songs, as arranged by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson.  Most of the pieces are composed of just the instrumentals, although later on the orchestra is joined by Dwele on 'Angel', and by Psdnuos and Talib Kweli on 'Stakes is High'.  A whole ton of people participate in 'Fall in Love', including Bilal, Illa J (Dilla's brother), Karriem Riggins, and Ma Dukes herself.

This is an absolutely beautiful cd.  Somehow, the act of having Dilla's wonderful beats played by so many people brings them a new intimacy, as they speak directly to the soul.

Were there just the cd in this package, I would have been happy with the purchase, but included in the pack is a DVD of the concert, shot in black and white.  It helps make it easy to appreciate the music and the power of Dilla's legacy.  This is an incredible project.

Madlib Medicine Show No. 7 - High Jazz

by Madlib

With this entry in the on-going Madlib Medicine Show, the Loop Digga gives us fifteen tracks of high-minded and beautiful jazz.  As with most of his jazz projects, the work here is attributed to no less than eleven different bands or groups of artists, although I'm quite certain that most of these people are fictional, and that Madlib has done the whole thing himself.

It does become easy to question that assumption though, as the liner notes are full of pictures of the different records that these tracks were taken off of, and there is much to suggest that all these people exist.

Not that it matters though, because we're here for the music.  This cd is full of lovely, effervescent jazz.  It's easily my favourite of Madlib's jazz albums (competing with Sujinho, the Jackson Conti collabo), as it doesn't have much that is 'challenging' or hard to listen to.  That is not to say that it's an "easy-listening" jazz album, it just doesn't ever hurt.

Of note on here is 'Funky Butt, Part 1', which is a collaboration with James Poyser and Karriem Riggins, two artists who are always working the underside of hip-hop, and never receive much recognition.  This is probably the most consistent of the Medicine Show projects released so far.

New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh

by Erykah Badu

This is a very cool album, although it has some interesting differences from its predecessor, New Amerykah Part One.  The earlier album had a number of stand-out hip-hop tracks produced by Madlib and Karriem Riggins, while this is a much softer affair.

There are still some amazing drums, but the general feeling of this album is both more gentle and laconic.  There are a number of gifted producers working with her on this, including Madlib, Riggins, Shafiq Husayn, James Poyser, and, at the very end, Georgia Anne Muldrow, her musical sibling.  Many of the tracks have live instrumentals, including drums by ?uestlove.  And, of course, there is a lovely little Dilla beat.

Lyrically, the songs are quite sparse and thoughtful, as Badu uses her small voice to great effect.  This is a rare album; it's consistent and unique.  I know that much of this disk got overshadowed by the short-lived controversy surrounding the video to 'Window Seat', but it deserves to be listened to and examined on its own merits.

WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip

by Madlib the Beat Konducta

I've never really been able to make up my mind about this album. I think that it is somehow much less than the sum of its parts, as it has many fantastic tracks and songs on it, but when played straight through, I found myself either not listening to long stretches, or just getting a little bored.

There are some truly brilliant parts to this album. The Liberation joint with Talib Kweli is incredible - Kweli hasn't sounded this good in a while and the beat is perfect for him. I also like the track with Karriem Riggins (where is that Supreme Team album?), and the tracks credited to Madlib as 'the Beat Konducta' are all amazing.

I think the problem is that this album can't decide if it's an experimental, new sort of thing, or if it's Madlib producing some classic-sounding hip-hop (with people like Defari, Guilty Simpson, Prince Po, and Roc C). There's nothing wrong with either approach - Madlib is brilliant at them both - but I find that it disrupts the cohesiveness of the album as a whole.

It's all good though, as I imagine that most of these tracks will sound fantastic on my ipod when it's in shuffle mode - especially after I edit out the annoying interludes and distractions that litter this album.