RJD2 Since We Last Spoke

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

OK this is getting a lukewarm critical reception but I think it's better than his first - more consistent musically, better flow to it, and more personal-sounding statement. I'd say
deadringer - 7
SWLS - 8

― djdee2005, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I agree with those comments ... but Deadringer was unpredictable and quite a bit bonkers. SWLS is a more restrained, Sunday afternoon on the patio record. Deadringer is a half drunk at 2 AM wrecking your parents cottage during a summer party album.
I'd say Deadringer - 8, SWLS 6.5

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 15:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I donno, songs like "Through the Walls" are really quite impressive...I don't get the patio vibe from them. "Walls" is great in a "Train in Vain," "Another Girl Another Planet" new wave pop-rock song way.

― djdee2005, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 15:34 (twenty-two years ago)

so, not very roc-a-fella then?

― zebedee (zebedee), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 15:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I was out driving around last night giving it a cursory listen when "Someone's Second Kiss" sort of struck me in the gut in that sad/melancholy kind of way. I'll probably listen to it later and not feel the same, but it was perfect in that moment.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

so, not very roc-a-fella then?

hell no, this backpacker has gone emo

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it's one of the worst of the year. Disastrous career move.

― JoB (JoB), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 16:31 (twenty-two years ago)

at first i was like.. ok, vocals, not a horrible addition.

then, i was like--OH WAIT THIS IS RJD2 SINGING??

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 16:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I really like this. Im pretty shocked by the "La-la" reviews its recieved.

― NUXX (NUXX), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 19:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I've only seen really positive reviews, what are these la-la ones of which you speak?

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 19:42 (twenty-two years ago)

it's horrific

― duke badd, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

besides the (wrong) ones on here I mean

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

gulf of tankin'

― duke vietnam, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I downloaded the promo version with the 'DEFINITIVE JUX RELEASE MAY BLAH BLAH' crap on it, but all that rambling couldnt cover up all of the mediocrity i was hearing in the background.

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Where's Nate/?

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:34 (twenty-two years ago)

i was actually kind of enthused when i saw it in the "to be listened to today" pile at work yesterday, but, no, it's really quite bad. even after the new lenny kravitz and alanis, it's quite bad.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:36 (twenty-two years ago)

after that thread detailing RJD2s lame attitude towards sampling/credits I really don't feel like further exposure to his "skills" is necessary...

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:39 (twenty-two years ago)

"An ambitious effort, but a failure all the same." writes Urb, and I would agree. If you want to make an album by sampling different records, you'd better start with sampling some good music instead of cut-out bin crap.

― JoB (JoB), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:46 (twenty-two years ago)

haha well that's what you're left with when you don't want to pay sampling fees i guess! (or, you know, lack a keen ear.)

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:47 (twenty-two years ago)

also, note to DJ/producers: PLEASE STOP TRYING TO PASS OFF SMOOTH JAZZ AS WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU DO.

thank you.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:47 (twenty-two years ago)

man, this is kind of sad, this album sounds dire! oh well

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:49 (twenty-two years ago)

s1ocki, if you haven't heard it yet, i would still listen to it, regardless of this thread

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:50 (twenty-two years ago)

i have to say that a lot of it did sound quite "seamless", in that it sounded like bad indie rock.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I had the same horrified (and bored) and bored reaction to it upon first listen, but the last half of the record contains a few interesting (or unlikely) tracks that very nearly redeem the whole thing in a sort of "okay, I think I get it now" sort of way.

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:54 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah slocki, please understand that i listened to this once while doing ten other things. (i am sure i will have to hear it at least a few more times, however.)

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:55 (twenty-two years ago)

i did listen to that promo'd version a couple of times and couldn't really remember anything afterwards

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:56 (twenty-two years ago)

(about the album)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

(or what i was doing in yemen in a gladiator outfit)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:58 (twenty-two years ago)

the lite jazz thing, however, is undeniable

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:59 (twenty-two years ago)

do you think he's going to come over to this board and yell at us?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey, I quite like it! A lot of songs have mad flavour, very atmosphere-evoking or cinematic or what you want to call it. It’s not as good as I’d hoped after some online hype, but I like it. It often sounds more original and personal than Deadringer.

― Orange, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:02 (twenty-two years ago)

oh surely we've been bitched out by bigger/better musicians than rjd2

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:03 (twenty-two years ago)

now he's really going to go ballistic!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:04 (twenty-two years ago)

i actually don't listen to deadringer much anymore, though i still think i like ghostwriter a lot

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:05 (twenty-two years ago)

"sorry, rj, but you're just no saul williams, or ethan playing the guy from j5."

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:05 (twenty-two years ago)

so what's his singing like?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:10 (twenty-two years ago)

weedy.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:11 (twenty-two years ago)

he doesn't... rap or anything, does he?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:13 (twenty-two years ago)

it's EMO

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:15 (twenty-two years ago)

To be clear: he only sings on one song. It isn’t great, but he sounds pretty sincere, so that’s something.

― Orange, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:16 (twenty-two years ago)

http://hades.dorm.utexas.edu/~rickya/pics/bios/kelsie/cookiepenis.JPG

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:16 (twenty-two years ago)

he sings on two songs.

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:16 (twenty-two years ago)

(sorry that was a little jon williams-esque of me)

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:17 (twenty-two years ago)

strongo = noise dude

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:17 (twenty-two years ago)

i thought that was a jon williams post at first!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:18 (twenty-two years ago)

i've become what i hate

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Hm? Which one then, other than ‘Making Days Longer’?

― Orange, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:18 (twenty-two years ago)

but do you hate what you've become?

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:18 (twenty-two years ago)

btw the google search that brought that up was: fruity pebbles

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:18 (twenty-two years ago)

anyway that's not a very good picture of rjd2.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 21:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Skipping 122 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

well great argument then!

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 20 May 2004 06:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey, I'm just here to make you feel clever. Somebody has to.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 20 May 2004 06:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Miles Davis isn't jazz either! Wow you're logic is opening hella doors for me! (ps I ain't trying to be clever. there's enough of that on ILX already)(i guess pointing out a retarded argument of yours is just me trying to be "clever")

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 20 May 2004 06:24 (twenty-two years ago)

(i always do that your/you're shit)

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 20 May 2004 06:25 (twenty-two years ago)

The mere fact that RJD2's music comes from a tradition of hip-hop production based on sampling, DJing and turntabalism, never mind the fact that HIP-HOP /= RAPPING.

― djdee2005, Thursday, 20 May 2004 07:08 (twenty-two years ago)

(hit enter too soon)
...leads me to suspect that Alex SF has "cred issues." Maybe RJ's just not "hard" enough for you?

― djdee2005, Thursday, 20 May 2004 07:09 (twenty-two years ago)

eh I'm being mean. But seriously, if hip-hop = rapping to you, then you may want to take a look at the early history of the genre (PS: Trip hop took from hip-hop, and RJD2 sounds absolutely nothing like tricky).

― djdee2005, Thursday, 20 May 2004 07:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm curious about one particular comment: JoB's "disastrous career move." in what way?

I would have thought (before this thread) hardly anyone who loved Deadringer was going to love this new album. I had difficulty imagining Rjd2 gaining many new fans with his new musical direction. Maybe it's just me (and the reviewer from Urb) and Rjd2 has a fantastic future ahead of him...

― JoB (JoB), Thursday, 20 May 2004 09:09 (twenty-two years ago)

haha we dont even want to get into pnw "rap fans"

(btw we stock rjd2 in the dance section. shadow in rap.)

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 May 2004 09:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Why on earth would you stack RJD2 in dance?

PS: Prefuse is hip-hop too :)

― djdee2005, Thursday, 20 May 2004 12:15 (twenty-two years ago)

i'd be much more inclined to call prefuse hip-hop than rjd2, really.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 May 2004 12:16 (twenty-two years ago)

haha and, well, dj dee we've sold quite a few copies of it already, but no one has come up to us asking why they can't find rjd2 in the rap section.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 May 2004 12:17 (twenty-two years ago)

weren't you the one who wanted to know what differentiated him from the electronicats?!

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 May 2004 12:18 (twenty-two years ago)

you lot seen this week's Seattle Weekly yet?

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 20 May 2004 12:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Electronicats? No.

Why on earth would you say RJD2 is not hip-hop? I don't understand yr reasoning here that Prefuse is "more" hip-hop than RJD2.

like Nate said upthread....
those "white producer-types who sound kind of rock-like CANNOT BE HIP-HOP" arguments are myopic as hell.

― djdee2005, Thursday, 20 May 2004 12:20 (twenty-two years ago)

i would say rjd2 is not hip-hop because the majority of what i heard on the album doesn't relate back to hip-hop for me AT ALL. and i don't see it complicated by his productions for rappers or his past work AT ALL. it's like calling those sping heel jack improv records "drum & bass" because they used to make drum & bass.

that said, i'd be shocked if the third rjd2 disc wasn't a major swerve back towards hip-hop.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 May 2004 12:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I think yr gonna need to explain to me a bit further what about this record isn't "hip-hop." Is there something sonically about it that is not hip-hop to you? From what I can tell, it comes from the sampling and production tradition of other hip-hop artists, it uses record scratching, hip-hop beats and was made by a guy who does production work for many hip-hop artists....I just don't understand where the cut-off line is.

― djdee2005, Thursday, 20 May 2004 12:27 (twenty-two years ago)

don't labels usually request where they want albums stocked in stores?

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 20 May 2004 12:28 (twenty-two years ago)

is this more hip-hop?

David Hasselhoff to turn into rapper Hassel The Hoff!
http://www.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=38556&cat=Entertainment

whatever next !

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 20 May 2004 12:38 (twenty-two years ago)

He's gonna fit KITT for 24s

― Nate in ST.P (natedetritus), Thursday, 20 May 2004 13:03 (twenty-two years ago)

rollin on dubbed

― prima fassy (mwah), Thursday, 20 May 2004 13:05 (twenty-two years ago)

hmmmm, tricky re the "is rjd2 hip hop?" question. in many cases boom bip and buck 65 aren't very conventionally hip-hop, but i'd be wary of saying they're not either. i don't believe this record to be very hip hop, but think it's still informed by it, same as buck 65's talkin honky blues... the short answer is that i don't know. this is, of course, the correct way to think. thank you.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 20 May 2004 13:14 (twenty-two years ago)

i really want more "the horror"s anyway.

He told me this and 'Work' were his fave tracks on Deadringer, so I'm surprised to read this.

― Barima (Barima), Thursday, 20 May 2004 13:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think RJ cares if it is considered hip-hop or not.

It goes back to what kind of musician are you? Are you the type who just wants to rock a party or are you the type who is trying to express something? Not that there is anything wrong with rocking a party, and as we hear from his work w/ Soul Position / Doom / Aesop / Diverse, etc, RJ is more than capable doing that.

From what he has said in interviews it appears that with his solo stuff he is moving away from what you might traditionally think of as hip-hop and is branching out into more genre-blurring areas. The hip-hop roots of his current direction can hardly be denied, as djdee said... vinyl samples, check. turntables, check... but the focus for him, I think, is more on trying to compose something that he likes the sound of, that expresses the feelings he wants to express, that isn't confined by what random joe says is or isn't 'hip-hop'. That being said, if you consider Shadow to be hip-hop, I don't see how you can say SWLS is anything else. I bought it last friday at the RJ/Diverse show in philly, and for the most part I think it's solid.

And so what if he sings? 10 to 1 if he hadn't credited himself y'all heads would've thought it was just another sample.

― [email protected], Thursday, 20 May 2004 20:19 (twenty-two years ago)

coming around to the back half of this now. "one day" is a good remake/sequel to "work," with slightly higher fidelity and a vocal tuned in from 1970's AM radio instead of crusty soul.

someone help me figure out where i've heard a guitar riff almost exactly like the one in "clean living?" i know it's a common effect but i'd swear it's really close to a song i know well and can't place. diggable track, though, great glossy bassline and shuffle-march tempo. the vocal is cool too.

"through the walls" almost turns into "just what i needed" at the end!

― .rob (rgeary), Friday, 21 May 2004 22:54 (twenty-two years ago)

four weeks pass...

i keep returning to this without really thinking about it. there are lots of nice little touches like the spin-down in "1976," the "one-two-three-four" that kicks off "ring finger," and especially the "ohhhh!" buried in the mix on that one. the feeble emo midsection is mostly tolerable now.

"to all of you" feels too much like deliberate attempt to make a new deadringer track, tho, but "through the walls" is such great fake arena rock that i now love it. "one day" is a great closer but runs on a little too long- that vocal makes it and when it runs out, there's really no reason to hang around.

what are the bonus tracks in other countries i've heard about like?

― .rob (rgeary), Saturday, 19 June 2004 23:10 (twenty-one years ago)

the tracks I heard sounded like house, at least one of them.

I saw him support erol alkan here recently and he was shit. boring and halfway through he played 20 computer game theme tunes and gave chocolate sweets to people who guessed what they were. if you think this sounds great then you and rjd2 deserve each other. "HE'S JUST HAVING A LAUGH!!!"

― Ronan (Ronan), Saturday, 19 June 2004 23:17 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't hear much house in this beyond "clean living," which sounds more disco/protohouse to me. i'd like to see him try some full out housey stuff though.

that sounds like an awful gig, honestly.

― .rob (rgeary), Monday, 21 June 2004 01:19 (twenty-one years ago)

RJD2 is not serious enough for Ronan.

Wow RJD2 is a nerd surprise surprise.
His music still rules.

RJD2's new album is better than Felix's if only because it's more consistent. I bring this up bcuz I saw you raving about it Ronan and I bought it and other than "Ready 2 Wear" (great) and maybe 5 other tracks (good) its pretty unimpressive.

So there.

― djdee2005, Monday, 21 June 2004 03:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh I don't really care about RJD2, I'm sure he's fine, just not for me, and I was very impatient to see Erol Alkan.

The Felix album gets better with each play. It may be my favourite of the year now, though I'm not sure. I couldn't really compare it with something I don't like, like RJD2. I guess it's not serious either, but there's humour, and then there's just silliness. I think the silly computer game theme stuff just was a distraction, nerves rather than genuine joking.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 21 June 2004 09:31 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

I'm liking this album more and more. Much better than Deadringer, which was nice but not great. Also: let me be the first to say I really like "Making Days Longer"!!

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Is that one of the ones where he sings? Cuase that shit is weak!

― artdamages (artdamages), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

If I'm not paying attention to it, I quite enjoy this album. It's the moment where I hone in on it and think about what is going on that I realize it's not really all that.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 17:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah tell me about! I say Stuff It Emo Boy!

― artdamages (artdamages), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 17:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't dislike his singing in particular, to be honest. It's just, it seems very structurally formulaic. Some of my favorite parts are the throwbacky funk jams, but then I'm expecting this face-melting WOAH moment that never quite happens.

I think "Iced Lightning" is my favorite track.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

It's a really nice album to listen to at work.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)

It doesn't party like Deadringer, but I like it a lot. It does have its emo moments, but that's OK -- as with the better parts of the Postal Service, it makes me think I tolerte emo best when its boys with blips and beats instead of boys with guitars.

― spittle (spittle), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 17:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Postal servicce is not ok by me. I say, "Stuf it, Emo Boy!"

― artdamages (artdamages), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe I need to listen to Deadringer more, but it NEVER struck me as a big ol' party record.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Really? Maybe I just turned it up too loud.

― spittle (spittle), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 20:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Really? Maybe I just turned it up too loud.

Related topic: Kompakt Pop Ambient 2003 is my party album of 2003.

― djdee2005, Thursday, 22 July 2004 03:22 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

This is good.

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 20 September 2004 06:33 (twenty-one years ago)

three months pass...

Haha, that last post was on my birfday. Happy 27th to me!

Anyways, after me getting fifteen kinds of retarded on this thread, I'm still mildly startled and a bit self-conscious upon reflecting on the fact that this is my favorite album of the year. Which means I'm an emo lite-jazz scared-of-real-rap indie whiteboy or whatever it is haters say when they decide the only thing they have the ability to review is the audience. It's almost inexplicable, except that it just reminds me of more than a few places and phases in my listening education that really hit me hard when I first heard them -- the title track's '73 Stooges sound, those atomic Bonhamish drums in "Exotic Talk," "1976" with the top-down-Karmann-Ghia-in-Rio warmth (sounds kinda like a happy answer to Babe Ruth's "The Mexican"), "Ring Finger" as the Doors minus everything that made the Doors bad (stupid lyrics, no bass), "Clean Living" as the Great Lost Sly & the Family Stone instrumental (with special bonus androgyne hippie-glam-cabaret vocals), "Iced Lightning" as the entry theme for Your 2082 NBA Champion Chicago Bulls, "Through The Walls" as NEW WAVE KILL YOU WITH RIFFS (which he rerecorded with Ric Ocasek on vocals, no shit), the vintage familiarity/return to Deadringer aesthetic on "One Day". Even the stuff I didn't mention (the gradually likeable "Making Days Longer", the schmaltzy "To All Of You") has this shit down to a science. When it comes to layering sounds and structuring beats the man can build it up and tear it down with the best of 'em. To eke out one of my inexplicable car metaphors, Kish Kash:Since We Last Spoke::black '81 Esprit Turbo:'70 AMC Javelin with the mod red-white-and-blue Trans Am graphics. (Yeah, same company that gave us the Pacer, but don't hold that against it.)

― What's this place, Biblevania? (natepatrin), Tuesday, 28 December 2004 06:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Nate, often when I listen to this album I think, of course this is Nate's favorite of 2004, which isn't a diss AT ALL -- I just smile at how perfectly it captures a lot of your particular tastes.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 28 December 2004 06:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, no dis inferred -- if this record was any more geared towards me it'd have an MF Doom verse, a grime track composed mostly of samples from the soundtrack to Scarface and a full-length animated motion picture-slash-series of videos by Leiji Matsumoto.

― What's this place, Biblevania? (natepatrin), Tuesday, 28 December 2004 06:44 (twenty-one years ago)

(and a hidden track of Julian Casablancas all drunk and cursing)

― What's this place, Biblevania? (natepatrin), Tuesday, 28 December 2004 06:45 (twenty-one years ago)

This is quite possibly my favourite record of the year too.

― KeithW (kmw), Tuesday, 28 December 2004 11:42 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't think i gave this record a fair chance.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 28 December 2004 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I liked the singles. Polyphonic Spree remix still rules.

― Captain GRRRios' Giggletits (Barima), Tuesday, 28 December 2004 17:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I like it a lot; when I first got it, I thought that I might love it, but after a while I realized that wasn't going to happen. He has a tendency to not follow through on his best ideas. But it made my top 10, partly just for the drum fills. Dude knows a good break when he hears it.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Tuesday, 28 December 2004 17:45 (twenty-one years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.