So hopefully everyone that loves Digable Planets knows that Ishmael Butler has been doing amazing work (often the equal of 'Blowout Comb') as Shabazz Palaces for the last decade.
But his new project Knife Knights may be (to my tastes) the best thing he's ever done, and their album '1 Time Mirage' is out today:
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3815434669_10.jpg
https://knifeknights.bandcamp.com/album/1-time-mirage
The cover is very retro, but musically I'd say the music is post-everything in the best possible way, pulling sounds and vibes of the 70s funk, 80s R&B and boogie, 90s "golden age" hip hop, and a contemporary woozy/dubby/weird feeling. Really exciting work.
― Soundslike, Friday, 14 September 2018 13:26 (five years ago) link
Thx for the heads up. Absolutely love this dude
― Οὖτις, Friday, 14 September 2018 14:31 (five years ago) link
Ooh!
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 14 September 2018 14:59 (five years ago) link
It's fantastic, isn't it?
The vinyl reissue of Blowout Comb earlier this year sounded v nice too
― canary christ (stevie), Friday, 14 September 2018 18:13 (five years ago) link
Ishmael Butler has been doing amazing work (often the equal of 'Blowout Comb')
Not really, but carry on.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Friday, 14 September 2018 18:20 (five years ago) link
Pre-ordered before I listened. Cancelled my order after previewing. Sounds terrible to me. The Erik Blood love in Seattle is baffling.
― brotherlovesdub, Friday, 14 September 2018 20:12 (five years ago) link
yeah this wasnt great to me. a few interesting ideas and twists but overall just sounds like some experiments that never form.
― Machine Gunk Jelly (Spottie), Friday, 14 September 2018 20:19 (five years ago) link
Yup, didn't like this much.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 14 September 2018 20:36 (five years ago) link
wasn't gonna say anything to dampen the enthusiasm but yeah very unfocused. as are the Shabazz albums after the 1st one.
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 14 September 2018 21:01 (five years ago) link
this is my favorite Shabazz Palaces songhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHaZhIkaHiE
― Οὖτις, Friday, 14 September 2018 21:49 (five years ago) link
that's a good song
― the late great, Friday, 14 September 2018 22:39 (five years ago) link
depressing album this
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 14 September 2018 23:12 (five years ago) link
well, i turned it off after four or five tracks.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 14 September 2018 23:14 (five years ago) link
Ha oh well, not everything is for everyone. It's definitely loose and rough, but honestly that's what I like about it. I will say--the tracks I like best are toward the middle/end.
― Soundslike, Saturday, 15 September 2018 01:28 (five years ago) link
It's ridiculous that I'm only really making time to get to know Blowout Comb now
― Hello Nice FBI Lady (DJP), Monday, 8 March 2021 15:34 (three years ago) link
also just for posterity, I almost made the exact same post that I wrote 4 times previously on this thread
― Hello Nice FBI Lady (DJP), Monday, 8 March 2021 15:37 (three years ago) link
it's so good
― na (NA), Monday, 8 March 2021 15:37 (three years ago) link
Wow, these results are totally incomprehensible. I fp'd Alfred for historic wrongness.
― rob, Monday, 8 March 2021 15:39 (three years ago) link
I fp'd myself, especially after spending time with Blowout Comb last week, as I have been for years now.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 8 March 2021 16:11 (three years ago) link
they're both great albums, i think blowout comb is superior, but not so superior that i would be shocked that someone preferred reachin'
― little johnny juul (voodoo chili), Monday, 8 March 2021 16:13 (three years ago) link
either way, good excuse for me to listen to digable all day long
Reaching is as close as can be to perfection in hip hop, it's both free-spirited and superbly written, and really nails that celebratory and cool attitude before hip hop took a liking for the dark and menacing. Aside from ATCQ, Pete Rock in his best moments, and I guess Outkast... ok, there was so much good hip hop with grooves, but Digable Planets have a special place.Blowout Comb is quieter, darker and more contemplative. It's excellent but does not bounce like Reaching and does not have the same charm and immediacy. But if we have any doubt about history, we'll be sure to ask rob :D
― Nabozo, Monday, 8 March 2021 17:53 (three years ago) link
It's suh a wonderful record. Black Ego just has the most amazing spectrum of sounds.
― incredible pant century (stevie), Monday, 8 March 2021 18:22 (three years ago) link
68 inches above sea level / 93 million miles above these devils
― the late great, Wednesday, January 17, 2018 1:23 PM (three years ago)
^yessss
TBC with "historic wrongness" I was joking about my calling out Alfred for an 11-year-old post not like rap history or something.
It's not like I think this should have been a, er, blowout, it's just BC blew my mind in 1994 and still sounds entirely fresh. As man alive posted upthread the way they blend the samples and live instruments is flat-out amazing and more endlessly fascinating for me than the beats on Reachin, which are cool but just a touch more, idk, expected? Reachin is like the perfect summer album though and is definitely charming, but for me there's a little more there there on BC.
So yeah, I was being hyperbolic, I don't actually think it's incomprehensible to prefer Reachin. I do take issue with the idea that Blowout Comb is "quieter" though... I don't really get that take.
― rob, Monday, 8 March 2021 20:01 (three years ago) link
blowout comb is a top ten 90s album.
― "Why is the voice of reason treated as the unreliable narrator?", asked (Austin), Monday, 18 July 2022 20:34 (one year ago) link
I saw Cleopatra Jones for the first time a few weeks ago and got to have one of those mind-altering moments of finally hearing a beloved sample(s) in its original context
― rob, Monday, 18 July 2022 20:59 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/ptCFOwD.jpg
― calstars, Monday, 28 November 2022 06:32 (one year ago) link
They're going to do a free show at Prospect Park:
https://www.bricartsmedia.org/events-performances/bric-celebrate-brooklyn-festival/bric-hip-hop-50th-anniversary-weekend
No doubt this will be heard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DfMksmOIME
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 20 June 2023 20:22 (eleven months ago) link
Actually they're following that show with a 30th anniversary tour for Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time & Space). Totally missed the announcement:
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/digable-planets-announce-reachin-30th-anniversary-tour/
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 20 June 2023 20:30 (eleven months ago) link
Wow
― calstars, Tuesday, 20 June 2023 20:54 (eleven months ago) link
Who goin to the show on Friday?
― calstars, Thursday, 10 August 2023 23:24 (nine months ago) link
I would but I’m going to the 50th celebration at Yankee Stadium with Run-DMC. (Why, why did they have to be at the same time??)
― birdistheword, Friday, 11 August 2023 00:02 (nine months ago) link
Haha nice, enjoy that
― calstars, Friday, 11 August 2023 00:02 (nine months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfR9KmSa0xA
― MaresNest, Friday, 18 August 2023 18:51 (nine months ago) link
funkay
― calstars, Friday, 18 August 2023 20:24 (nine months ago) link