The Cosmic Souls Collective

Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon: The End of Day (Fall 2009)
Grade: 65
Day(s) of Week to Spin: Saturday (sun setting over the horizon), Thursday

With an extremely promising open… almost on some theatrical-this-should-be-an-interesting…movie type tip… I waited. Five tracks into the album… I realized that a great part of me was already giving up on this record. As a reference I would say that the narration of the album almost emitted the feeling of a Common album. If you guys are fans of Common you know what I’m talking about; Gil Scott Heron appears on various Common records in the role as a narrator and mentor dropping knowledge that only hard life can bless you with. This was a really good look for the album to keep the conceptual piece of the record in tact. The problem with the record that I have is that there is clearly no commitment to anything besides the production. There was a great deal of harmonizing, singing, and there was also some emceeing on the record by Cudi, however, as I stated, there was no commitment to… say, the beautiful idiosyncrasies in vocal work or to putting some complexity in the rhymes. Cudi, at best, tries to drive home the idea of “hey, I’m (this is) different,” but abandons the golden rule by not letting the music speak for him.

I’m not altogether ignorant to the fact that this album will probably be considered a hip hop album. It will be largely reviewed as a hip hop album… as so Kid Cudi will be compared to other emcees (with more basic formats). I will step out on to the ledge and say that, in my eyes, this is not a “conventional” hip hop album. That works for the record… and against it. People feel the need these days in music to be able to offer something different. Many of the artists actively engaging this role find themselves stepping outside of their creative comfort zones… and ultimately being slain for doing such a thing. The fact that Kid Cudi, from the beginning, is being as versatile as one can be shows that he will have some longevity in music, however, the hardest part of showing and proving this level of versatility is doing so while maintaining an equal or greater level of artistic integrity. That, in my opinion, is where this record failed.

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Mayer Hawthorne – A Strange Arrangement (Fall 2009)
NOTE: Instead of giving it a 5 mic/star kind of thing I am going to do something a little familiar and a little different.
Grade: 79
Day(s) of Week to Spin: Saturday, Monday

There are different feelings that could bring one to either love this record… or feel completely the opposite. The reason is simple; “Arrangement” feels like something that would have been comfortably slated for a fall release… in 1969. A very ballad-heavy project; emotionally charged lyrics and some dance-provoking sets would normally promise a very soulful, Motown-esque record. “Arrangement” however lacks originality and depth of feeling. It also is not very convincing in the way of delivery. The “not-really-singing” sound of Mayer Hawthorne’s voice works well for what the song writing accomplished, however the record as a whole fails to show much range or depth to his voice. The title track is one of the stronger tracks on the record along with the official single “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” and “Shiny & New” also standing out amongst several short falsetto-driven ballads.

Upon first listen to this project one would (on average) more than likely abandon any thoughts of consuming this record in its entirety, however, after listening to the record repeatedly, it begins to grow on the “soul singer” in you. Picture black and white television and slender band mates two stepping in front of microphones with a plain backdrop. Then the phone rings and you realize you’re just sitting there in front of the 13 inch Macbook.

Most people tend to be more comfortable with music that they can place within a genre; people tend to want to compare music to other music and often use other artists as reference point. With this Hawthorne album, it would be really difficult to find a place to put a physical copy of it, as the first whim that comes to mind is to stick it between a David Ruffin record and Eddie Kendricks record. Unfortunately, I don’t have a vinyl copy of this record. I said that to say this: “Arrangement” evokes the feeling of a quiet morning house cleaning; having woke up early as 9 a.m. and dropping the needle and grabbing a broom. There not being a lot of music out today to compare it with makes it stand out in my book… and makes it completely irrelevant in the (ears) minds of others.

All in all I enjoyed the album, but I feel like it would be totally hit or miss depending on who you give the album to. It probably could enjoyed most by a beat maker or a 70-something year old couple trying to rekindle what being young and in love felt like. In case I’m giving you too much credit for being intelligent; you realize that those are two extreme demographics and any project that can be enjoyed that expansively is, overall, a solid project in my book.

More Mayer Hawthorne: Stonesthrow | Myspace | enjoy!
Review by: know:juander

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